


reanimate the dead

by rouyu



Series: skz rou-bbles [7]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Body Horror(?), Crossdressing, Crying, Emotional Manipulation, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Hypothermia, I Tried, ITS LESS GORY THAN IT SOUNDS I SWEAR, Kinda, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mentions of Panic Attacks, Mentions of Violence, Mild Blood, Not Beta Read, Physical Abuse, Psychological Torture, Swearing, Tags will be updated, Thigh Holster, Vomiting (mentioned), dont mess with jisung, forced starvation (mentioned), i got confused between the two jisungs i think u will be too, idk how to tag cuz idw to spoil anything fuuuu, jaehyun and ten were bitches here im sorry, jisung frm nct will be appearing very often!, lapslock, nct calls jisung baby a heck lot, nct will appear more in later chapters, omg i feel so bad im so sorry minnie ily, on jisung only lol, panic attacks doesnt get solved, poor chenle has a horrible past, seungmin goes through a shit ton im so sorry baby, trust me the title does this fic no justice, u fuck with jisung u fuck with dreamies, v small part of chp. 2, waist holsters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2020-11-22 22:51:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20881982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rouyu/pseuds/rouyu
Summary: jeongin huff through his nose, setting a reminder in his head that minsung needs to get fired because apparently, they suck at their jobakathe requested sequel to mute





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cloudyuwu](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=cloudyuwu), [flamecurry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flamecurry/gifts).

> close to one month and im back! i hoped i am missed but seeing that beautiful stunt i pulled in chapter 26 in MATE i dont think anyone misses me HAHAHAH (btw check out mate if u havent, it's one of the works i actually will go to the ends of the earth to promote lol)
> 
> again, this is a sequel to MUTE, which i wrote back in early feb wow. this is requested by cloudyuwu and flamecurry hope u two like it uwu <3! i wanted to do a oneshot but GUESS WHAT MY BRAIN SAYS NO so here we are, get ready for the ride people. if u havent read MUTE, please do so or u might get confused? idk? xD while u're waiting for this to get updated, do check out my other works hehe!
> 
> if u like this fic, do subscribe to it so that u can receive email notifications every time i post (or u can subscribe to my series skz rou-bbles!) i love yall, lets get started!

seungmin was cocooned in fluffy blankets, wearing one of jeongin's oversized pastel hoodie as he lazed on the couch, watching tv.

"minnie, dear, you  _ do _ look really cute in innie's hoodie but can you come over and help me wrap these leftovers?" mrs. yang cooed from the kitchen, a playful smirk on her face as seungmin flushes pink at her words.

its been about eight months since seungmin became apart of this lovely family. don't get him wrong, seungmin really loves all of them, but sometimes he really hated that jeongin acts like his parents.

and his parents acting like his boyfriend.

"mom~!" seungmin whines from embarrassment but nonetheless, untangled himself as he skipped over to the kitchen.

he caught the cling wrap that was thrown at him with ease (totally) as he wrapped up the bowl of homemade kimchi.

"any idea when jeongin's gonna be home, pup?" mom asks as she picked up the wrapped bowl and placed it delicately into the fridge.

"not sure, he did say he'll be back by midnight." the boy pouts at the memory, jeongin giving him one of the longest hugs he had ever initiated before unwillingly leaving.

the older boy was just a tad bit worried if anything has happened to the younger one, just a little bit.

okay, no. he's very worried. seungmin caught himself checking their group chat every few minutes.

"breaking news!" seungmin's eyes looked up from the fried popcorn he was wrapping. he totally didn't steal a few while he was supposed to wrap them.

"we have an update on the female murderer and her male convict boyfriend," the news reporter said as she read her papers.

seungmin kept his ears attentive as he softly pushed the popcorn chicken towards mrs. yang for her to keep it.

"they were last seen just a few minutes ago leaving the streets of hongdae in a black mazda 3, rest assured that the police will soon apprehend the two big suspects."

"don't rest assured, we are not going to do that." mrs. yang sighed as she left the kitchen to go upstairs. seungmin couldn't help but giggle at her reply.

it was so like jeongin, flaming and exposing their friends.

seungmin spent the next fifteen or so minutes scrolling through social media, taking the time to update their account.

yes, theirs. turns out his circle of friends, better known as stray kids, has their own official instagram.

stray kids, a well-known budding gang, has an official instagram, with their faces and everything. it was created not long after jeongin announced (much to seungmin's dismay) that they're dating. three days later, he was added into their group chat and given the account's information.

seungmin's first reaction was a big, fat 'WHAT'. he embarrassingly went on spamming the same group chat about how dangerous it was since they're a gang and the gang's identity was supposed to be a secret.

jeongin assured him that jisung and felix were great hackers and nothing personal like their ip address can be tracked.

seungmin shook his head.

how was he so dumb and overreactive in the past, he does not know. he decided to mess around before posting a cute selca.

when he first posted an introduction about him online, he was so scared. even with jeongin's head buried into his neck as the other cuddled into him, he couldn't help but overthink.

he was nowhere as talented as the rest of stray kids, what if their evergrowing fanbase reacted negatively to their new addition to the group?

jeongin did post about him having a boyfriend, the comments were all supportive and gushing over his new other half.

what if he wasn't what they were expecting? what if they don't like him, what's going to happen to their relationship-

the door closing softly snapped seungmin out of his daze

"innie?" he questioned as he cranes his neck to see who's at the front door.

"yes, hyung?" jeongin's tired reply echoed back as he walked into the light, hair a mess for the rough wind as he shrugged off his jacket.

seungmin wasn't sure if he should reply as he scanned the younger for any sort of injuries that he might have to deal with.

"i'm fine, don't worry your cute little ass off." jeongin joked as he came closer, pecking the older's bangs on his forehead.

"i heard the news on the way home, not sure if they're new suspects so you gotta be careful, okay?" jeongin whispered, his eyes seemingly getting more glossy.

"i will." seungmin replies, a soft smile on his face as he got up and softly nudged jeongin towards their room.

seungmin instantly dives into the mountains of blankets as his boyfriend went to shower. now that his body was in contact with the comfy bed, seungmin groaned tiredly.

school took a huge toll on him as stray kids just casually walked out after the fifth period, leaving seungmin in the dreamies' care.

the dreamies were another group of good-looking and popular kids in school and stray kids were on good terms with them.

they were undoubtedly fun to be with, mark and haechan having their daily arguments and jisung being so goddamn done with his own hyungs. they really tire seungmin out as he tried to be a good hyung to like, half of them and being the peacemaker to markhyuck's nonsense.

very, tiring, indeed.

seungmin's brain was about to shut off when he felt the bed dip by him.

"love?" jeongin mumbled, clearly tired as well. seungmin hums in reply to the best of his ability, his face literally smothered by the pillows.

"how're the nightmares going? you didn't wake me up for a few days so i just wanted to check on you." seungmin heard jeongin switch off the lights before climbing into bed, his hand combing through the older's fluffy hair.

"it's not as bad as it used to be, i could handle it on my own so i didn't wake you." seungmin turned on his side to face jeongin. the moonlight streaming in seems to sharpen his jawline and put stars into his fox eyes.

"if you can't, i'm always here, okay?" jeongin yawned cutely at the end of his sentence, his nose scrunching up like a fox.

"you're not alone anymore."

seungmin laughed wetly and nods in promise, making sure he dries his eyes before leaning over to kiss his nose before whispering goodnight, curling into the younger's embrace.

-

seungmin wakes up just as the third alarm rings. he watched amusingly from under the fluffy cloud blankets as jeongin fought with his own phone, squinting at the bright screen before turning off the noisy alarm.

"fuck~ it's too early for this." jeongin whines, smothering himself with his pillow as seungmin got up.

"no~ hyung, don't leave." jeongin cries dramatically, throwing a hand around the older's waist and pulling him back into the sea of blankets. seungmin laughs heartily before slipping out of the younger's grasp easily, landing softly on the carpeted floor.

"i swear i taught you too well." the fox boy mumbled into his pillow, still on the brink of unconsciousness.

"well, you did want to make sure i know how to fend for myself." seungmin replies from the connected bathroom while washing up, occasionally giving a grunt instead as his toothbrush was occupying his mouth.

"i'm going to sleep in, my brain cannot handle this." jeongin grunted, voice raspy as his hand sightlessly fumbled about on the bedside table for one of their phones.

he grabs one of them and started texting felix.

"that's my phone, innie," seungmin commented as he walked around, trying to find his clothes in the mess of everything they have in the room.

"just grab one of mine, i don't really care." jeongin watch his boyfriend's pout deepens when he couldn't find his own hoodie amidst the mess.

"your's too big!" the older complain but nonetheless, took jeongin's from the footrest of their bed.

"yup, definitely too big." jeongin hears seungmin sigh as he set the phone back on the table, felix being on his way. he looked towards their standing mirror to see seungmin literally drowning in the younger's dark blue hoodie.

jeongin coos before laughing, seeing seungmin having his hands on his hips, trying to look intimidating as he glared at his lover.

honestly, seungmin just looks like an angry little puppy, no harm at all.

felix's honk made jeongin groan as he buries himself into their blankets.

"lix hyung's here, now go before i change my mind." jeongin waves seungmin away, only his hair was visible in a messy bird nest as the rest of his body was hidden.

"i'll see you in school for lunch?" seungmin asks as he plants a soft kiss on the younger's crown, making him whine at the affection so early in the morning.

"yeah, yeah, now go!" the older went to leave, dodging a pillow thrown at him by the younger.

"okay, okay! i'm leaving." after hearing jeongin's grunt did seungmin close their bedroom door and went down, saying bye to mom and dad, catching his breakfast that was passed over from mr. yang.

"its club sandwich! enjoy your day honey!" mrs. yang shouts from the kitchen.

"bye mom, bye dad! pleas wake jeongin up later!" seungmin shouts back as he threw on his shoes, running down the porch.

as soon as felix saw seungmin out of his house, he opens the rear door as his driver started to pull out of the driveway. just before the car speeds down the road towards the highway, seungmin literally jumped in, closing the door behind him.

"why are we always doing that?" seungmin asks the aussie, referring to him having to actually catch a ride.

"dunno, it's fun though!" felix giggles as he lays back and blasts twice songs.

seungmin somewhat pities the driver who has to deal with this daily and pities changbin.

well, kind of, that brat of a hyung deserved it.

they made it to the school with ample time to spare to mess around. as soon as they got out of the car, hyunjin and jisung were already waiting, jumping up from their seated spot on the stairs and literally throwing themselves on the other two

"i missed you guys." hyunjin whined, turning to give felix an exaggerated kiss on his lips. "i miss you more though, lixie." both seungmin and jisung groaned at the two boyfriends' pda.

"don't pda in front of me! ew!" jisung grumbled, shoving hyunjin on his shoulder.

"says you! you and minho are even worse!" seungmin fought back on hyunjin's silent puppy eyes pleas. jisung gasped loudly and animatedly, hand on his heart.

"what are you even talking about? this is blasphemy!" seungmin watches with his bitch face on as minho sneaked up behind his boyfriend, catching him off guard by grabbing his ass.

the poor boy fucking screeched, jumping back and pulling his gun out from his thigh holster, scaring minho in return when a gun was pointed to his face.

"for heaven's sake, ji. don't go pointing your gun everywhere, we're not even supposed to have weapons on us in school." minho growled back.

"your fault for sneaking up on me!" jisung huffed, shooing the older to leave first.

"why am i getting chased away?" the older watched with wary eyes as he climbed up the steps towards the door.

"yall better not be planning on a prank, or else i'm not covering up for you," he warned before disappearing down the halls.

"what happen yesterday? jeongin got home really tired."  _ and i'm just a tiny bit worried for you guys.  _ it was a silent sentence that both jisung and hyunjin understood. the 00 line was just about to leave before someone cleared their throat.

"my apologies, young master, may i have a word with you first?" felix's driver rolled down his window as he asked.

"i told you to call me felix, younghyun hyung. but sure, you guys go on ahead, i'll catch you in class." this time, it was felix who shooed the others up the steps, before running back to the silver car at the entrance.

"well, let us tell you the story!" seungmin was ushered in by hyunsung, both of them really eager to talk.

"you wouldn't believe it but we got into a fight yesterday night. it wasn't even us initiating it! we're just trying to enjoy the night as a group of 9 rowdy kids when we got confronted by nct. you remember nct, right?" hyunjin starts off, dramatic as he always his, throwing his hands around as he speaks and even darting his eyes around when he tried to remember a certain part of yesterday.

"yeah, yeah! then we got into a fight because we didn't want to, so they forced us. we're kinda outnumbered but they weren't experienced that much, they were easy." jisung gloated, his head held high as he laughed at the recollection.

"right! jeongin was doing his usual, then all of a sudden he stopped shooting and stared out of the alley, or in that direction basically. then, he nearly got an arrow to his face because he zoned out. luckily, woojin was able to grab him and pull him out of the arrow's way." hyunjin sighed in relief, checking to make sure seungmin was still listening. seungmin nods as he kept his eyes in front of him to watch where's he's going, but he's still listening.

"then! chan brought it up after we dealt with those idiots who ruined our outing. jeongin blushed and sheepishly said, 'oh, i thought i saw minnie out there and i got worried. then i realized he's at home.' ahhhhhh!" jisung squealed loudly, getting everyone's attention in the hallway.

seungmin gave him a slap on the shoulder to shut him up. jisung did clamp his mouth shut immediately but hyunjin continued from where he left off.

"everyone started cooing because it's gonna be once in a blue moon you see innie all blushy and shy. he's still such a baby, i can't with his cuteness. he was pouting so hard because he thought we were mad that he zoned out and almost got himself killed. how can we get mad at that face he was giving us?" hyunjin faints dramatically, pulling seungmin's arm as they fell into a human pile at the bottom of the stairs, scaring the two girls who were coming down.

"sorry about them, please pass." seungmin got up quickly and bows deeply in apology, his face burning up at his embarrassing excuse of best friends.

"it's fine, oppa. they seem to do this a lot." jisoo laughed, pulling her friend, apologizing as well when she gave them a judging look.

"come, let's go class~" seungmin pouts and whines, pulling hyunjin's leg as jisung stayed squashed under the taller male.

"stop embarrassing me!" the youngest gritted through his teeth as he whacked hyunjin's ass, making the oldest yelp and tumble off the other.

"okay, okay. hyunnie!" jisung squeaked as he got up quickly, pulling hyunjin up the stairs, seeing their puppy maknae's pout deepens when the stares stayed on them.

it's cute but it's too cute.

"what the fuck are yall staring at?" everyone jolted at minho's voice behind jisung. the crowd muttered under their breaths as they turned away, busying themselves.

"thanks, babe." jisung smiled, planting a quick kiss on the older's jaw before going back to the task at hand.

which was, getting hyunjin up the stairs and to class before they're marked late.

"i got this." minho smirked before he wordlessly picked hyunjin up, the taller crying out in protest.

"put me down before i rat you out! binnie hyung doesn't know how to keep secrets you know!" hyunjin kept bargaining as seungmin watched, letting out a tired and frustrated sigh.

_ i wished i slept in with innie. _

_ - _

"what time should i come to pick you up, young master?" felix sighed with a smile on his face. no matter how many times felix has already chided younghyun to call him by name, the older refused.

"i'm not quite sure, i might be hanging out at binnie's." felix hummed. "i'll let you know closer to dismissal, how 'bout that?"

"fine by me. now, hurry on. i don't want you being late on a monday." younghyun joked as he laid back in the car and sped off.

felix waited for the car to disappear, raising his hands and waved as younghyun turned the corner onto the highway.

before he could walk towards school, a woman cleared her throat softly.

"sorry for stopping you, i'm just wondering if there's a boy with red hair and has somewhat puppy eyes in this school?" she asked, her supposed boyfriend standing by her side, a warm smile on his face.

both were outrageously stunning in their own ways, felix couldn't help but widen his eyes as he registered their presence.

"ahh, i do have a classmate with that description. he's name's seungmin, should i go get him for you?" he asked politely, assuming that the couple was older than him.

"there's no need to, child." the man answered, eyes forming crescents with his smile. "we're looking for someone with that description, he might not be the one we're looking for."

"nonetheless, thank you for your help. please go on, you might be late." the lady beckoned him to go before they turned and headed back down the pathway, chatting and laughing.

felix bows back as they turned before running off, entering the class and plopping his ass down in his seat just before the mr. tuan walks in with his laptop.

"right on time huh, yongbok?" mr. tuan snickered playfully as he set his laptop down on the teacher's table.

"why, of course, i ain't called yongbok for nothing." felix slumps in his seat, a little bit out of breath from running up eight flights of stairs.

_ time to doze off in class. _

-

jisung yawned as he stared out the window while seungmin beside him was furiously taking notes during ms. kim's class. it was chemistry and jisung's quite good at chemistry. if he doesn't understand anything in the homework later, he can just ask minho. minho is a god at chemistry, period.

the squirrel boy was about to take his eyes off the road outside their school when a pair of humans caught his attention.

floral dress and black silk top, red wedges and checkered converse. the couple standing outside conversing were really beautiful. if minho is the god of beauty, those two must be angels. they were sheltered from the harsh sunlight under a cherry blossom tree owned by the school.

god, they must be idols or something, models even. however, they do look quite familiar, their faces. jisung brushes it off easily. they must be famous if jisung remembers seeing them around before.

-

the lunch bell rings and as soon as it did, everyone in class scrambled to beat the queue. it was a monday, every monday was hell to those who chose to skip breakfast to eat during lunch. its the only day when every, single, goddamn class has their lunch at the same time.

usually, the pros outweighed the cons so no one really complained about it. especially hyunjin's class, with seungmin, jisung, and felix. monday was the day that they ended earliest due to having lunch earlier, making their class end at the same time as the hyungs'.

hyunjin was about to ditch the scene and bolt when he was held back by ms. kim.

"hyunjin, for heaven's sake, your homework?" ms. kim said more than questioned as she eyed the taller boy who sheepishly smiled.

"i finished thursday's, 75% through friday's. i have proof!" hyunjin answered back, debating if he should go back to his bag and take out the papers.

"i know you're trying, i can see your improvements in your tests. i'm just worried because you seemed to be zoning out a lot, that's all." ms. kim smiled as she packed up.

"i'm sorry." hyunjin blurted without really thinking, eyes downcast.

"don't sweat it, honey. can i get those papers by tomorrow, since i didn't give homework today?" the everloving ms. kim still asked, even when it was obligated he did his homework on time.

"i promise." hyunjin smiles, ms. kim mirroring it as she walked him out of class. outside, felix and changbin were waiting for him, the younger koala clinging onto the older one.

"o-oh, ms. kim!" felix jumped away as soon as he saw his teacher by the door with hyunjin.

"i'm fine with that, sweetie. they're yours?" ms. kim smirked as she asked hyunjin, whose cheeks lit up pink at the comment.

"ms. kim~" the taller one whined, to which she laughed.

"don't worry, i won't tell," she said as she zips her mouth with her fingers, leaving the three boyfriends. upfront, a boy joins her side as she held hands with him as they walked into the staff room together.

"isn't that hyojong hyung?" changbin whispers as the trio headed towards the cafeteria, chan letting them know that he already got their food for them.

"most definitely," felix confirms. hyojong a.k.a mr. kim was their biology teacher. he doesn't really care if he was referred to as hyojong instead of mr. kim, just focus on the lesson and he won't pick on you.

"imma tie my shoelace, will catch up." hyunjin gave changbin a quick peck on his cheek since it was their first meeting today before bending down to tie. he hears the two walk off slowly so that he can catch up easily.

when hyunjin got up, a really gorgeous man stood in front of him, a small smile on his face.

"ahh, good afternoon sir." hyunjin bowed, flustered when he blanked out at the man's good visuals.

"don't worry about it, i'm not a teacher here, just a visitor." in his hands was the visitor pass that he spoke of. hyunjin hummed in acknowledgment, bowing again in apology.

"i'm actually here looking for a kim seungmin from your class, i believe. you are hwang hyunjin, yes?" the man asked, tilting his head like a little puppy.

"yes, i'm hwang hyunjin. but may i know the reason that you're looking for him during lunch break?" hyunjin asked back, he couldn't help but be just a little suspicious.

the man laughed, apparently expecting him to ask.

"thought you'll ask. i'm mr. lee from jyp entertainment and i'm here to cast both you and seungmin. for the upcoming boy group. there wasn't any huge announcement on it since jyp-nim wanted to surprise the fans." he explained, taking out his name card as evidence.

hyunjin too a quick glance, yep, seems real. he still has his doubts.

"i'm sorry but seungmin called in sick today, so he isn't here. i can let him know later and if you wish, you can cast both of us tomorrow?" hyunjin politely asked, smiling back at the man before him, sideglancing just a little to see felix and changbin trying to look normal at the end of the hallway while waiting for him.

"ah, that's a pity. i'm quite time-strapped since i'll be going around the schools to see if i can cast anyone. it's alright, till we meet again, hyunjin." the man then left, after a sly smirk ghosting on his face.

hyunjin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but nonetheless shrugged and skipped down the hall, squishing his lanky self in between his two boyfriends as they walked.

knowing hyunjin, he can't really keep his mouth shut and he thinks seungmin deserved to know what happened. so while they ate, hyunjin bought it up.

as hyunjin spoke, seungmin continued eating, not really caring about what's happening. he was starving. he let out a pained whine when jeongin's fingernails dug too deep, trashing in the younger's lap.

jeongin silently loosen his grip, kissing seungmin's jaw in a silent apology. the older then reached down, intertwining their hand together while he ate with the other, letting his fox know that he's fine.

chan, being the worried dad, as usual, asking hyunjin to describe the man, then questioning if anyone knows who he was.

"it's okay, hyung." seungmin mumbled as he leaned back, playing with jeongin's fingers, a pout on his face.

"i'm in school and i always have my protection squad with me, i'll be alright, hm?" seungmin chuckled quietly when jeongin stretched up to kiss his temple in agreement.

"i know," chan's eyes soften as he watched the two youngest fondly. "i know."

"baby, i wanna visit the library for a while, do you want to follow me?" jeongin whispered, his arms tightening their embrace on seungmin's waist, careful of his own holster.

"at this rate, can i even say no?" seungmin giggled as he turns around in the fox's lap, leaving a shy kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

"then let's go!" jeongin grinned, picking seungmin up easily to set him down on the floor properly before taking his hands.

"we'll join you guys again in about 15 minutes." jeongin announced before leaving.

it was a cue for them as the remaining hyungs gathered closer, sharing ideas on how to deal with this.

"could it be from our enemies?" changbin pondered loudly.

"who? itzy?" minho laughed.

"who knows, its probably two gangs coming together." woojin voiced out.

"is it kard? we never really did anything to them."

"we and kard are neutral with one another, they might have decided to break that," felix said as he scrolled through his phone, where he had the list of their allies, enemies, and neutrals pulled up.

"we're only not in good terms with nct." hyunjin replied, craning his neck to read off felix's phone.

"hmm, then who's the girl?" chan hummed.

"girl?" woojin asked, hearing the new detail.

"i wasn't about to assume anything, but just during second class i saw a couple seemingly waiting for something under the cherry blossom. now that i think about it, the man sounded like the same one. they were waiting near the window to seungmin's class too."

"oh! i saw them during the second class, i swear they're really gorgeous." jisung squealed, getting a glare of jealousy from minho.

"could it be red velvet? after all, nct and red velvet are on really really good terms." hyunjin mumbled, his head resting on changbin's shoulder.

"yeah, they could be like us and twice, sibling groups. you mess with one, you'll get the other." minho nods in agreement.

chan leaned back in his seat, a silent plea for woojin to take over for now.

"we'll keep watching, who knows how dangerous they're gonna get. don't approach them, alright? if they approach any of you, just play it off, especially the maknaes." as he said that, woojin looked over to acknowledge the 3 of them.

"you three share the same class with seungmin, be extra careful."

"of course, hyung."

-

everyone agreed to keep an eye out, but at the same time making sure seungmin doesn't sense anything was off. on alternate days, the couple was seen loitering around school premises, even getting visitor passes without much question.

it means that they either have children studying here or they're guardians. they were watching, waiting, planning. it's so suspicious that it got felix thinking how no one questioned their presence in school.

one day, felix gave up and tapped seungmin on the shoulder, the younger letting out a hum in answer as he kept his eyes on his notes.

"seungie, do you happen to know those two?" felix pointed as seungmin looked over and out the window.

the younger's eyes widened as he dropped his pen in shock, the item rolling down the steps in the lecture hall. jisung stuck out his feet and stopped it just before it drops another level, making hyunjin turn back in his seat to give them a questioning look.

seungmin's eyes stayed glued on the figures, who smirked at him as they entered the school premises.

_ they were supposed to be dead. _

"minnie?" felix asked softly, shaking seungmin's shoulder. when the puppy before him didn't reply, felix instantly stood up, pulling the other's hand as they walked towards the exit.

"be back before class ends to sign out or i'll mark you as partial." mr. wang didn't bother to turn from his board as he spoke. jisung mumbled a reply as the 3 of them struggled to move seungmin, to keep him calm.

"baby, breath for me," hyunjin cooed softly, bringing seungmin's hand to his chest, holding it on his heart.

"feel this, can you follow it?" the younger whined loudly and shook his head, trying to pull his hand away.

_ they know i'm here, they know i'm here- _

jisung led the way towards the library, seeing mr. kim's confused face.

"it's class period, isn't it?" he asked as he sorted books at the counter.

"seungmin's got a panic attack, can we stay here until he calms down?" mr. kim nods instantly seeing seungmin crying in felix's embrace, pushing his glasses up.

"yeah, flip the sign for me, will you?" mr. kim gestured to the 'open' sign hung at the door. hyunjin stretches over to flip it before carrying seungmin into the depths of the library.

"thanks, wonpil hyung." jisung smiled in appreciation as he bowed.

"anytime, kids. let me know if you need anything. i'll try my best to help." wonpil smiled back, retreating into the storage room to continue his work.

"it's not working, he's not listening to us." hyunjin groaned as felix tried his hardest to whisper in the puppy's ear, trying to battle with the voices in his head.

seungmin instead trashed even harder, eyes unfocused as he wailed louder.

"call jeongin, we can't do this." hyunjin said firmly as jisung hesitated, not wanting to disturb their fox.

jeongin was on watch by the school staff for skipping and basically doing very badly academically and not looking one bit worried about his studies. jeongin's parents weren't really caring as they themselves did so back in the days. they knew jeongin knows that they didn't really graduate with a good score, and their outlook on life is that they shouldn't restrict their son from doing something that they were allowed to do, as long as he knew the consequences.

it wouldn't be fair to him.

jisung unwillingly phoned up jeongin, restless as both hyunjin and felix tried their best, buying time.

their maknae picked up in class, staying quiet to let the older speak as per usual. all jisung said was seungmin and that got their fox to stand up so fast, his chair squeaked loudly.

mr. park sighed and asked where he was going, not expecting an answer from the supposedly mute boy. instead, jeongin stopped when his hand landed on the doorknob.

"i'll be back by the end of class, jae hyung," he said, voice slightly deep and raspy from not really using it, before bolting down the hallway, letting the door close on its own. this startled his classmates, who gasped and stared at the closing door, not really believing that happened

the one who muted himself 2 years ago, started talking again. jae widened his eyes behind his glasses as the door finally closed with a soft click. he smiled and turn back to the board, continuing his writing.

"huh. seungmin's doing wonders."

jeongin reached the junction in record time, planting a hand on the wall as he heaved, leaning on it.

god, when was the last time he ran that fast? gym class?

as the fox recovered from his run, there were sudden screams and a stampede of students came running down from the hall connected to the library. jeongin's back had to kiss the wall he was previously leaning on so he wouldn't get run over by scared students. he kept an eye out, before snatching a boy from the crowd.

"what's happening?" jeongin shouted so the other could hear amongst the screaming, voice breaking quite embarrassing at the end. the younger boy looked up in shock.

"wha? jeongin hyung? um, an armed couple in the library, your hyungs are there too." ah, jeongin grabbed kai by accident. soobin jogged up to the two, taking kai by the shoulder.

"i'll be taking my maknae now, nice hearing you speak again!" soobin waved before steering their maknae away, moving out with the crowd.

jeongin cursed as he fought against the wave of students, shoving people aside.

"goddammit, move!" as soon as the boy snapped, everyone instantly gave way, scared to get on his bad side. jeongin can't blame them. he was known to be mute and never ever spoke since  _ that  _ incident. the whole school also knows his hyungs love him to the moon and back. they will not hesitate to kill for their baby fox.

the boy reached the library, carefully climbing in through the shattered glass doors. he stepped carefully and silently, eyes on alert as they scanned the library. his ears picked up felix's muffled voice, followed by some muted gunfire on above him, on the second floor.

the maknae took out his own gun from his waist holster as he climbed the stairs, ducking behind a shelf as he stayed to listen. sadly, he couldn't hear much than exchanging gunshots from both parties. jeongin quietly turned, kneeling down as he risked a peek through the gaps between the books.

his hyungs were holding fire, their guns cocked and loaded at the very same couple everyone was talking about. in their hands was seungmin,  _ his  _ seungmin, unconscious from his panic attack earlier.

now that jeongin got a good look at them, he swears they're familiar.

-

_ "try me." he then turned towards the house. _

_ _

_ "we already alerted them someone's outside. let's just get this over with." woojin grumbled _ .

_ they broke in with ease, to see seungmin's sister and her boyfriend already prepare for their ambush. _

_ "why, why. the murderer and her convict boyfriend." minho scowled, his gun was already loaded as he aimed. _

_ "seungminnie sold us out, huh?" his sister shrugged. _

_ "you have no right to call him that." jeongin snapped, his own gun ready to fire. _

_ on cue, both minho and jisung shot them in the leg, making them drop their own guns. chan hurriedly ran over, kicking the firearms out of their reach. _

_ "what do you want us to do, innie?" jeongin glared at the two groaning on the floor as he turned away from them. _

_ "minsung hyungs, just make sure they're dead," he said before walking out the door. _

_ "where ya going, fennec?" felix asked. the question made jeongin smile. _

_ "i'm going home to my puppy hyung," he answered before walking away. _

_ - _

_ they aren't dead? _

jeongin huff through his nose, setting a reminder in his head that minsung needs to get fired because apparently, they suck at their job.

the woman laughed before shooting the window behind them, dodging his hyungs' bullets gracefully as she jumped out, taking seungmin with her. the man smirked before following suit. jeongin gasped and ran from his spot, cutting his hand on the glass as he looked down, ready to jump to catch his boyfriend.

the couple landed in a moving pickup truck, which had mattresses to cushion their fall. it zoomed away as soon as they landed with its spray-painted license plate.

jeongin sighed shakily as he turned around, glaring fiery daggers at jisung as he spoke.

"i want a meeting, now."

-

their baby fox glared at everyone who was seated at the dining table at yang's home with his hands across his chest.

"innie, what's wrong." chan asked softly. usually when something happens to someone in the group, chan or woojin will initiate a meeting to discuss. having their maknae speak, even initiate a meeting like he's about to kill everyone, clearly means something.

jeongin switched his gaze over to minsung, who literally shrunk under the intensity.

"hyungs, you killed those fuckers right?" they both nod in confidence, confusion swimming in their eyes at his question.

"yeah, sat there for half an hour making sure they bleed to death." jisung elaborated, looking down and playing with minho's fingers when jeongin glared at him.

jeongin couldn't help but snort.

"right, oh how can one live after that? what i heard, you two came back boasting about how u made their legs looking like they got polka dots." his voice got even angrier as he spoke. "so tell me, don't you think that couple looked almost, if not exactly the fucking same as the one you supposedly make bleed to death?"

minsung looked at one another in fright from their maknae's outburst.

"c-come to think about it, they do resemble-" minho flinched when he got cut off by their fennec.

"i swear, one job, one simple task and you two decided to be risky. that's fine, we all do sometimes. if it was another gang i don't give a fuck but this? they got seungmin again, they're going to fucking kill him!" woojin reaches over to take one of jeongin's hands in his, calming him down slowly.

the others couldn't blame him for his outburst. there was a time when hyunjin got kidnapped from them and everyone was seething mad, they can't blame him.

chan thought as he drummed the table with his fingers.

"we'll plan and get him back."

"the more time we waste, the worse they'll go! look, hyungie was already suffering from his panic attack that wasn't solved, it's going to get worse once he wakes up. i'm not losing him again!" woojin managed to calm him down for them to set up a plan, jeongin trying his hardest not to snap at his hyungs.

before his hyungs left to go home, chan warned everyone.

"they know who we are, they're gonna tell seungmin and he might not take it well."

god bless, jeongin felt like he wanted to rage. luckily, changbin quickly intercepts, felix hugging jeongin in distraction.

"he took it fine when jeongin told him before we went on our mission. he already knew about all of us, he just didn't know we are from the same gang."

"yes, but now seungmin's in an environment he isn't familiar with, with strangers who want him to suffer. different situations will make him think differently. who knows what propaganda they're gonna use to make us look bad, make innie look like a killer." woojin backs up chan, the other smiling faintly in appreciation.

jeongin finally breaks as he started signing, letting out a frustrated whine.

_ tomorrow, we go tomorrow. _

"that's less than 24 hours, we're not prepared to do this, there'll be more risks involved." hyunjin tried to delay it.

the youngest kept signing, going fully non-verbal.

_ i don't care! i promised not to let him get hurt again, i'm not breaking that! _

chan steps up to hold jeongin's hands in place, the younger struggling. the older's voice is firm.

"no, we'll be going the day after. we need time to get ready, have possible reinforcements, to get more weapons. we are not risking anyone's lives, not even seungmin's. no. objections." chan held their fox's gaze as jeongin bit his lips hard so as to not flame anyone with his venomous words.

in the end, their maknae let out a pained wail before letting his weight fall onto the barstool. he pulled his legs up, hiding his head between his knees, his hands shakily signing.

_ i miss him. _

he was hesitant in his next sentence, his hands stayed shaking in the air as he battled with his inner self.

_ i'm... scared, hyung. _

felix sighed and walked up, kissing jeongin's crown, his small hands embracing the younger's.

"we'll get him back, you gotta believe in us. most importantly, believe in him." with that, the elders took their leave, giving jeongin his space.

as soon as the front door closes, jeongin hears shuffling from upstairs. he looked up to be faced with mom and dad, leaning on the balcony that's overseeing the living room and part of the kitchen island he was sitting near.

mom looks at dad first, before speaking.

"you know what you're doing, right?" referring to their plan. jeongin nods, eyes teary. mom then looks at dad again, waiting for his permission. when it was granted, she spoke.

"we got intel. as much as we don't like you talking to the gang, we can see how much they care, how much you care. we can see how much seungmin means to all of you and how much he changed you, in particular." as mom was speaking, dad was folding a paper airplane, throwing it down. it landed softly on the kitchen island, in their son's line of vision.

"this time, kill them if you wish. they are wanted, dead or alive by the government. luckily, i'm put in charge, so by all means, go crazy." mom smiles before leaving for bed.

when he heard the bedroom door close, dad smirks as he turned back to jeongin.

"i can see how much seungmin changed you, mute." jeongin smiled back, wiping the tears that escaped when his eyes smiled with him.

dad has always been supportive, sometimes the reckless type of supportive. mom was the more reasonable one, who has tried to talk jeongin and sometimes even her own husband out of doing some stupid ideas throughout his childhood. sometimes she gave up, smiling at their idiotcy, sometimes she succeeds.

seungmin indeed changed him so much, jeongin honestly doesn't recognize his past self.

I.N was reckless, trigger-happy, a troublemaker, bloodthirsty. jeongin is now more calculative, loving, loyal, most importantly, sacrificial.

seungmin has taught him so much, it's time to put those lessons to good use. the fennec unfolds the airplane gently. it was about nct, their arch enemy gang, it has always been so since stray kids' first appearance in the underworld.

but why nct? it wasn't confirmed that it was them who took seungmin. jeongin is slightly confused. their hideout was given, their current members, their roles, their firepower. wow, almost everything can be of good use. the boy shrugged before folding the paper and putting it in an empty pocket on his holster.

ah, his trusty holster, his life, and death in all honesty. not everyone in stray kids has one of their own. jeongin, hyunjin, jisung, felix and minho always have their holster on due to their lean figures and their habits of dressing in oversized tops.

jisung and felix usually dress in pastel hoodies paired with some jeans. wow, such irony to their personas. jisung also likes to have a thigh holster as well for the funs. he ended up using it to put his gun but somehow wasn't caught with it.

hyunjin and minho honestly dress more on the sexy side with chiffon and silk, somehow still managing to hide the bulky holster while looking like a whole meal.

chan, woojin, and changbin are more on the bulky side in terms of figure and they are almost always seen with outerwear. either they're wearing it or they'll be carrying it.

chan and changbin clearly rock leather and look hella good in it, most of them come with premade interior pockets for them to hold guns and knives.

woojin dress more casual and less intimidating with cardigans and wooly outerwears in winter. he likes to personally modify them to fit guns and items.

jeongin dresses a little of both, sometimes he has a holster, sometimes he doesn't. but he prefers the holster, he doesn't have to worry about this dropping out.

ah, holsters. it reminds him of seungmin.

a few weeks back, jeongin personally made one similar to his, just smaller in waist size for seungmin. the older wasn't really fond of the idea to start with but complied anyway. jeongin liked to joke that seungmin was an angel sent from heaven, too innocent, too pure to even hold a pistol. it was also around the time when jeongin taught seungmin how to handle guns and how to adjust his holster for safety purposes.

throwback to that one time jisung almost shot himself when he was adjusting his holster. luckily, the gun was empty.

today, seungmin was dressed in jeongin's dark blue hoodie. jeongin prays at they didn't feel his holster, prays that he's fine.

the day after tomorrow, nct will fucking pay.

_ they'll live for just one more day. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> school's starting in two days im not ready to die

"so, how did it go?"

"great!"

"superb. next time hyung, you can ask the younger ones to take care of this."

taeyong joked, asking the two if it was easy.

"way easier than expected, that boy got some panic attack history." jungwoo replied as he took off the wig, tossing it to the side while almost tripping on his dress. the sentence caught taeyong's attention as he hummed.

"ah, panic attacks huh," his eyes drifted over to the unconscious boy by the wall, then towards the table by the side. both taeyong and ten exchanged confused looks before they morph into one of understanding.

"we'll put that into good use, don't worry." ten smirked.

"how, exactly?" jaehyun asked as he took off his clothes, revealing a tank top. "gosh, wearing those shit is hot."

"right? i swear i had to sit so girly." jungwoo mumbled, stretching himself as he got back from the toilet, now changed into a comfy hoodie and shorts.

"we'll just use his attacks against him, against the rest of them." taeyong simply smiled evilly as he sat down by his laptop, typing away, apparently printing something by the sound of the printer in the other room.

"oh, they won't even see it coming, tae." ten backs his boyfriend up, walking out to retrieve whatever that was printed.

wide eyes watched in shock from afar, listening in as the young doe slowly back himself out of the room. jisung had to warn stray kids, his friends, dreamies' friends. they were on good terms in school since it was never revealed any of the dreamies were in nct, at least, not publicly. plus, taeyong was just really bloodthirsty and stressed. in reality, even if nct and stray kids were on bad terms, he doesn't, he never, initiates a fight with them.

instead, it was ten who was more aggressive, somehow managing to convince taeyong into doing whatever he did. the maknae thinks that, even if he wasn't allowed to do any 'gang-related' activities, both sides will lose equally or even worse in their own ways.

mentally, physically, emotionally.

the youngest was so lost in thoughts, he ran straight into doyoung's open arms, crashing into his chest with a soft 'oof'. if doyoung was already ready to embrace jisung, the younger must have been lost in thought since he walked from the room to the long hallway.

"you shouldn't be walking from where you were, sungie." doyoung chided softly, keeping his hands on their baby's shoulder.

"what's on your mind, hm?" yuta prodded, both elders exchanging looks, a quiet conversation. jisung debated for a few seconds, looking at his older hyungs. they were the kinder ones in the gang, ones who'll think before acting rashly.

"yongie hyung wants to get rid of stray kids, for dead real."

the elders looked at each other with shock written on their faces.

"taeyong must have gotten a lot of stress from being in a new team, probably a little too much for him." doyoung concluded. yuta smiled softly in agreement, turning back to jisung.

"ji baby, you can't possibly do this on your own. we'll help you, but as you know, nct and stray kids, we aren't on good terms." jisung nods quietly.

"and, they don't know the dreamies are with us, do they? what about your friendship with them? the reason we didn't tell the whole world you're under us is that we can see how much you two get along." doyoung adds, checking the area to see if anyone else was around.

"it doesn't matter, i'm sure that dreamie hyungs will agree with me too! innie hyung's bo-best friend is in big danger." doyoung chuckled softly and ruffled the younger's hair.

"you'll grow up to be just like the two of us, huh?"

"good news, ji. we know where stray kids live, it's part of our info gathering. we'll go with you if you don't mind."

"it's about time they know who we are, it's not far that we know everything about them but they don't know about us dreamies." jisung sighed, playing with his fingers. yuta sets up their plan.

"tomorrow, i need you to watch them and let us know how they're going with this. we'll then go over in the evening, that's when they're probably over at jeongin's to go through their plans. how does that sound?" all three nods before leaving on their own ways, as if that conversation has never happened.

-

it was day 2, jeongin was not having it.

last night he could barely sleep a wink, every time he was shrouded in darkness his mind goes crazy. nightmares plagued him, of the worse scenarios that could happen.

he could lose a hyung, maybe even get them injured. gets himself injured, get seungmin injured. no.

what if he loses seungmin?

the fox hears the dull 'pluck' of his tears hitting his duvet.

_ no, jeongin stop crying, be strong. _

he roughly rubbed away his tears.

_ seungmin wouldn't want to see you cry. _

jeongin honestly doesn't feel like going to school anymore, despite his clock telling him that he'll be late if he doesn't leave now. he falls back onto the bed with a frustrated sigh, turning to rest on his side, snuggling into the blankets.

bad idea, in his line of sight, was a stuffed vulpix sitting on seungmin's side of the bed.

fuck, jeongin thought as the onslaught of tears came back.

they got that vulpix on one of their dates at the arcade...

_ - _

_ they decided to separate since both boys loved the arcade but had different interests. jeongin preferred the basketball machines over seungmin's unbeatable love for dance dance revolution. _

_ it's TOTALLY not because jeongin fucking sucks at it and just doesn't want to accidentally lash out at seungmin due to his anger issues, nope, totally not it. the younger has a good reputation in school for flaming a lot of students in the past into overcooked barbecue when he was approached while angry. damn, even the teachers weren't spared. _

_ with that aside, the two agreed to meet back at the entrance before after an hour before deciding what to do next. _

_ jeongin was surrounded and flirted at by both guys and girls alike at the basketball machines since he just so happened to bump into renjun who playfully challenge him to a match. _

_ now, who is the yang jeongin to back down from a challenge from one of his favorable hyungs outside of stray kids? _

_ both boys were great at basketball, to say the least. renjun was a great challenge considering jeongin almost barely lost. he was just one or two points higher than the elder. renjun smiled at him giving the younger a bro fist in congratulations. _

_ "you know, after having a game with you, i think the rumors about you are just plain stupid." renjun joked as they leaned against the machines and talked since no one else was eyeing the machines. _

_ "what type of rumors?" jeongin feigned confusion. _

_ "ones about you killing people with just words." jeongin shrugged at the sentence, making the older smile. _

_ "don't worry," renjun pats jeongin on the head, the younger looking very unamused. "i don't listen to rumors. besides," the older points over to the side, behind a group of girls who were still there for some goddamn reason. _

_ "isn't that your... isn't he, precious?" jeongin bless the lord as renjun didn't say 'boyfriend'. as much as he wants everyone to know seungmin's taken, the girls before him were not really that happy when the older started his sentence. a shudder went down his spine, girls are scary when jealous. _

_ the fox looked over to see his boyfriend walking by the claw machines, just strolling till something caught his eyes. he stepped back towards the only orange machine midst pink and white. jeongin watched on, curious to see what his puppy will do. _

_ "i'll take my leave, see you around!" renjun waves before leaving, the guys who were surrounding the machines dispersed as soon as he did. as soon as he does though, the girls walked closer. _

_ "hey innie oppa, remember me?" the girl asked, definitely purposefully making her voice higher than usual, blinking with her long fake eyelashes and huge ass doll lenses galore. _

_ jeongin rolled his eyes and groaned, giving them a pointed glare and shoving past them to get to seungmin. after all, they were blocking the only way towards the claw machines. as he got closer, seungmin made a victory noise, a big smile on his face as he bent down to grab the prize. _

_ the younger wanted to call out his name but seungmin turned anyways, hands behind his back, hiding the prize. _

_ "innie! right on time." jeongin inwardly squealed and melted at the sight of the older all giggly and soft-looking in his big pastel pink hoodie (probably jeongin's but at this point, it doesn't matter) and acid-washed ripped jeans. _

damn, boyfriend material indeed.

_ "what did you get, minnie hyung?" seungmin shooked his head before presenting the plushie to him. _

_ "not for me, but for you!" jeongin tilted his head when he sees the fox plushie sitting in seungmin's hands. _

_ "a, ninetails?" the younger knows his fair bit of pokemon, but seungmin was a huge big fan. the puppy laughed. _

_ "no, it's a vulpix. it reminds me of you, don't you think so too?" the older holds the plushie up, looking at it before looking at jeongin. _

_ "see? same eyes, same nose, vulpix even have your personality." if jeongin's heart melted before, he's evaporating now. _

_ "you set people on fire with your words, vulpix uses flamethrower on other pokemon, yeah, i see no difference." seungmin held it out, making jeongin accept it, holding it to his chest. _

_ "it's also cute, just like you." the older added shyly, a faint blush creeping on his cute cheeks. _

_ fucking flying damn shit fuck, jeongin's going to squeal. _

_ he doesn't fucking deserve this sunshine angel, the best and brightest jewel, the caring and loving boyfriend and hyung before him. nope, not one bit. _

_ jeongin holds the plushie with one hand, pulling seungmin into a hug with the other, digging his head into the crook of the older's neck. _

_ "baby, you don't know how much this means to me." you see, mom and dad don't really know jeongin's taste in things like clothes and gifts since it changes so much, so they'll ask which shops he frequents to gift him a gift card or even straight-up money in red packets. _

_ don't get him wrong, jeongin really appreciates them, he knows they love and treasure him but sometimes he wishes he got a real gift at times instead of money, but either way, he's happy and contented. for the gift and for the freedom of choosing. _

_ seungmin giggles, kissing his crown. _

_ "i love you too, idiot." _

_ - _

jeongin comes back to the present, hearing himself blowing on tissues. damn, he went so deep into his head he didn't even realize he cried till he grabbed tissues.

seungmin, so pure, so innocent, so bright. even after what he went through, he still loves so effortlessly, so willingly, so freely.

"fuck," jeongin let out a soft wail before bundling himself up in bed, picking up the vulpix, holding it close to his chest as he just cries. seungmin always cuddle with vulpix when he sleeps, so jeongin can pick up seungmin's scent that was left.

fuck, his heart hurts, his head hurts. he misses seungmin so fucking much.

the baby fox cried himself back to sleep, missing silent calls and rhythmic vibrations from messages left by his hyungs and probably, the dreamies.

-

it's 9pm when jisung got out of the car with doyoung and yuta, staring upon the white huge house before them, resting picture-perfect on the hill.

"you know i can go alone, hyungs." jisung breathed out, afraid to be too loud in the comfortable silence.

just earlier today, jisung and his dreamie hyungs were tailing stray kids around the school, very obviously. the maknae was not in all of their classes so he had decided to tell his hyungs in hopes that they'll help him out, which they undoubtedly did, very whipped for their youngest. they kept an eye out, making sure the other group doesn't end up doing stupid things that they'll regret later.

a very good and unforgettable example was last year when the older jisung somehow set the cafeteria on fire but still managing to dodge headmasters and mistresses alike.

yeah, good old times.

the dreamies decided to meet up after school to talk about their observations.

"sungie, you're going over later with doyoungie and yu hyung, right?" haechan asked, leaning back in his seat and groaning overdramatically about how tired he was trying to keep up with a hyperactive squirrel who probably got too much sugar in his body.

"hyungs gotta be careful, i overheard minho being very keen on ending us, dead dead." mark mumbled out as he stretched, tired as well.

"thanks, hyungs, i told them i can go on my own but they insist, what can i do." jisung sighed, eyes scanning the area and his hyungs, who look very worn out from chasing 8 kids around the school.

"it's for the good, they were so vivid about this, if you went alone, who knows what will happen."

"lele hyung, i'll be fine, trust me." chenle looked up from a book he was reading, pushing his glasses up when they fell.

"i know, i trust you. i don't trust them, not when they're like this." he gestured in the air.

"are you really sure it's too late for a change of plans?" jeno asked again.

"yeah, jen's good with guns if we need to, i can drive our asses away in no time." jaemin snickered, getting a playful slap from renjun. jisung smiles softly at the concern his hyungs shown for him. he really appreciates them. even though the whole of nct is inseparable as 21, sometimes they just have this small group of people they'll die for unconditionally. for kun hyung, it would be the chinese line, for johnny hyung, basically the foreign members.

"we'll be good, don't worry hyungs." for jisung, it'll be his dreamie hyungs. by the looks everyone threw around, he knows that his love and sacrifice will always, forever be unconditionally returned.

"alright, we'll go first," yuta announced, taking doyoung with him. his words brought jisung back and out of his head. the younger wanted to argue, but sighed and nodded instead, following a few steps behind, waiting for his cue.

-

"so! a recap of yesterday's plan-" chan started but was cut off by the doorbell.

"um, are we missing anyone?" jisung asked, looking around, minho moving the smaller from his lap to go answer the door.

"probably hyunjinnie, i don't see him around." changbin said, not before hyunjin walks out from the bathroom, messing with his hair.

"yeah, you called?" he asked, a little confused as he sat back down. minho gulped as he approached the door, a hand untucking the side of his black silk top, the decorative ribbons on the ends of the sleeves kept getting in the way of what he wants to do.

his other hand landed on the doorknob as another ring sounded. he turned back to make sure everyone was ready just in case while he himself rested his hand on the holster under his shirt. then, he opens the door as casually as he could.

"holy fuck," minho growled, pulling out his gun, pointing it at yuta and doyoung, cocking it. hearing the boy's gun, everyone else followed suit, pointing at the general direction of the door.

"min, move back." woojin said as the younger complied, slowly stepping back, his eyes and aim never leaving the door and the two nct members that stood there. there was a compactable line of curtain that blocks the view of the door from the couch, where most of stray kids were sitting at. jeongin quietly reached out for the remote with one hand, the other holding his gun as he compacted the billowing fabric so that everyone else can see the intruders. as soon as yuta's long red hair was in sight, jeongin's fox eyes were set ablaze.

"where the fuck is my seungmin?" he scowled, getting doyoung's attention. felix was at his side in an instant, sliding one of his hands into jeongin's, gripping on his gun, comforting him. the two intruders exchanged looks.

"may we come closer?" yuta asked. stray kids kept their position, awaiting chan's decision as the eldest eyed the two.

"doyoung come closer, you stay there." chan made up his mind. doyoung was one of their gunners, their sniper and a formidable one while yuta was one of their initiators, one of their frontlines, hence chan's decision.

they followed easily, almost a little too easily.

_ was this a trap? _

jeongin's parents were still upstairs, so if anything happens and nct decides to engage from the second floor, they got his parents to deal with, they are not to be underestimated. doyoung wordlessly untucked his shirt, slowly reaching to his side to unbuckle his holster and tossed it lightly towards stray kids, the item landing with a dull thud on the carpeted floor. yuta watches before following suit with his jacket, turning it inside out to show his knives, before tossing it towards doyoung's holster. he made eye contact with hyunjin, who jerked his gun upwards, a silent question for his holster. the long-haired boy lifted his shirt just enough as evidence that he doesn't have one.

"what exactly do you want?" changbin asked. at the side, minho kept his aim, his fingers ready to pull the trigger.

all he need was the cue, and he'll shoot without hesitation.

jisung did the same, aiming at yuta instead, tilting his head and closing one eye as usual while he adjusted his grip. only when the younger one stopped adjusting did doyoung speak up.

"we're not here to intrude in any way or means,"

"we're here to escort." yuta continues. doyoung raises a hand and stuck it out of the front door, a cue, a signal. minho spun his barrel to fire an air shot in warning, doyoung challenges that by leaving his hand outside the door, his eyes daring. the sound of gravel from light and small footsteps outside made jeongin perk up, his gun switching his aim towards the big window, where the white curtains flowed, a shadow cast on them from the moonlight outside. when the head peeks into the house, felix was the first one to gasp.

"sungie, oh my god come over here!"

"jisung, move over here." minho asked, his eyes never leaving doyoung. jisung moved as asked, but stopped beside his hyung, who flashed him a smile.

"i think it's about right you know who me and the dreamies are associated with." jisung says as he lifted his shirt just enough to expose the black elastic of his own holster, turning to the side to show that yes, there is indeed a pistol.

stray kids were needless to say, in a state of slight shock. jisung prepares himself for a full blown-out explanation.

one that might cost his life.

"yes, i'm apart of nct and so is the rest of the dreamies. we aren't allowed to participate in any sort of gang-related tasks and issues, except for mark and haechan hyung. that's why you didn't know about us and our relations. that's why none of you do. it was meant to stay that way."

"then why are you here, going against your own?" chan asks.

"simple. because taeyong hyung will regret the stupid things he'd already done later." yuta answers.

"we have seungmin, i can confirm for you, without a doubt," jisung continues, paying really close attention to jeongin as the older's hand started shaking from rage. "i overheard them saying something about... well, using his panic attacks against you."

"fuckers." jeongin scowled, lips twitching.

"as much as you want to end my entire family and their bloodline, please don't. we can work this out if you want." jisung begs with his puppy eyes on display.

just like seungmin, so much like seungmin, jeongin can't take this. even though stray kids are close to the dreamies as a group, individually, he's not that close to jisung. but he's close enough to know that all of them were adopted from orphanages, raised by 'brothers' who were their only and everything, supposedly taeyong and everyone else under nct.

their only and everything, their family. jeongin's not the heartless I.N from the past, not anymore.

everyone seemed to be waiting for jeongin to speak, so he did.

"fine, but you're getting us in." jisung smirks at the reply.

"i know you're gonna ask that. don't worry, it's already part of our deal." happily, he turns back to walk towards the door, throwing his hyungs their discarded items.

when did jisung pick them up without anyone seeing, stray kids have no idea but this shows that jisung, their baby maknae, their youngest, is just as dangerous as the rest of nct if he can do that so effortlessly.

"well, what are you waiting for?" jisung piped up again when he saw the other group unmoving. "the longer we take the worse it gets."

"so, you've decided to get another alliance?" woojin asked, clearly wanting to find out the identity of the female, seungmin's older sister.

"no," jisung raised an eyebrow before his eyes widened in realization. "that's jaehyun and jungwoo hyung. jungwoo hyung can really pass off as a girl, you know." that seemed to shock everyone once again.

"did you see him before you left?" jeongin asked, throwing on his shoes as he speaks.

"yeah, i did. he's really not stable right now. sorry, i can't do much, we aren't allowed in the mafia zones in our house where they have him."

-

_ jisung reaches home after school with the dreamies, separating from them when everyone else headed towards the kitchen for some late lunch snacks. _

_ "where ya going, sung?" renjun asked, slowing down from the others to ask him. _

_ "i'm going to check on seungmin hyung." their maknae mumbled, turning away from his hyung and down the opposite direction, walking into the mafia area of home. _

_ as he got closer to the room, he could hear the commotion inside quite clearly, considering jaehyun was raising his voice slowly but surely. _

_ "yeah, and see this? isn't that your precious innie?" _

_ "no- no, it's not. stop, please-" _

_ "you can't deny that's him, seungmin. he shot a fucking bystander so that there were no witnesses of what they did." _

_ "s-stop-" _

_ "you can't trust anyone in their group, they're all fucking cold-hearted killers." _

_ there was panicked breathing, loud, airy gasps and whines from seungmin as jisung held himself from opening the door. _

so close, don't mess up now, sungie.

_ jisung can oh so clearly hear the smile in his hyung's words. _

_ "they're emotionless killers, minnie. and very soon, you're next." there was a loud gasping wail that pained jisung to even witness hearing before the chains clinked and all went silent. _

_ "it's getting faster and faster to knock him out, huh?" jisung could hear jungwoo. _

_ lovely, affectionate jungwoo was part of this? _

_ "yeah, seems like it's working." _

_ "good job jae, by the time those kids come by, he'll be too broken to piece back together." and that was, no doubt, taeyong hyung. _

_ motherly, selfless taeyong. _

_ footsteps were making their way towards him as he hurriedly backed up into the storage room, leaving the door slightly ajar for light. his hyungs walked out of the room and left the scene as if nothing ever happened. _

_ he doesn't have time, they might be just taking a short breather break before coming back. _

_ jisung quickly keyed in the passcode for the door and softly opened it, making sure to close it behind him instead of letting it bang. he could hear the sounds echoing in the hallways, who knows how far his hyungs went before stopping. _

_ the maknae gulped before turning, knowing some of his hyungs' 'experiments' doesn't really look appealing to the eye. luckily, seungmin is just fine in that factor, he looked just about the same as when jaehyun brought him in. _

_ "seungmin hyung?" jisung asked softly, not sure if he's awake. after a few dead seconds, seungmin shook his head slightly, keeping it hung low. _

_ "look at me, please?" jisung held back his gasp when seungmin raised his head painfully. there was what looked like a burn on his lips, it was really bad and really big. his whole bottom lip looked charred. there were burn marks all over his arms and even on his cheeks. jisung searched around for the cause. _

_ his eyes landed on a taser on the table. _

_ the puppy caught the younger's line of sight and whimpered, trying to pull his arms closer to his body in defense, rattling the chains that held them up. _

_ "i-i'm sorry, please d-don't-" his lip made the older have an artificial lisp when he slurred out, too numb from the volts to move. jisung really doesn't know what to do at this point, it was way worse than he imagined. _

_ the chains were digging into his pale skin, red, angry marks caging his wrists. he looked so goddamn thin, jisung swore he was bigger in size when he was just brought in. he could pick up the slight smell of vomit even when the place looked cleaned up. blood was matted on the older's right thigh from what looked like a bullet hole. the younger hesitantly took a step closer. _

_ oh god, the bullet was still in the fucking wound, it's silver case glimmering from the light as if taunting him. but then, where's the gun? there was no gun or any ammo in sight. _

_ when jisung took another step, seungmin yelped, like a puppy in pain and fuck, it hurts that the maknae can't do shit to help his hyung. there must be something he can do. _

_ the older's upper lip looks really chapped from the lack of water. _

water-

_ jisung slung his schoolbag forward, digging through the compartments for his bottle. he made a quiet sound of victory, taking the blue-tinted bottle out of his bag and putting the heavy shit down next to the door. he slowly walked even closer, kneeling down really slowly as the older weakly watched his every movement. the younger uncaps the bottle and offered it to the other. _

_ "just water, do you want it?" at the mention of water, seungmin perked up, tongue darting out to wet his lips, hissing when he made contact with his lower one. _

_ "stay still, hyung." jisung cautiously tilts the bottle, careful to try his utmost best to not irritate seungmin's bottom lip. the older gulps it down ferally and jisung's heart literally ripped itself into pieces. the younger than stopped pouring, a silent question asking if it was enough. seungmin kept his head hung low again, breathing deeply through his nose. _

_ "are you hungry?" jisung asked again, reaching over to grab an apple from his bag's side pocket. _

_ "i only have an apple on me, it's going to hurt your lips-" _

_ "p-please." the maknae sighed loudly internally, before positioning the apple to the best of his ability for the older to bite a small piece. _

_ "chew, hyung." jisung urged when seungmin swallowed the piece as it is, opening his mouth in a silent plea for more. _

fuck.

_ "chew, you haven't eaten in a while, you're tummy might not take it." seungmin nods fervently before grabbing another pained bite, this time chewing as asked. jisung couldn't help it but let a small smile grace his face. _

_ after seungmin finished his apple slowly, he asked. _

_ "jeongin. h-how's innie?" even in this state he asked of his boyfriend's well-being, jisung is about to get consumed by his own guilt. he could feel it eating him from inside out, even if he had no part in torturing the boy before him. jisung managed out a shaky hum as he threw the apple core away into the dustbin. _

_ "he wasn't in school today, i'll be visiting later to let them know where you are, to get you out." _

_ "why." seungmin rattled his chains. _

_ "because yongie hyung sometimes likes to take his frustration out on other people, unluckily, you. i can't stop him since he wouldn't listen to me, so having stray kids coming down to bust you out will probably bust some sense into his brain." there was a moment of silence, where it was just seungmin's heavy breathing. _

_ "t-thank you, sung." seungmin lifts his head up again to smile as best as he could without hurting his lips. jisung was not expecting that, so he looked down shyly, unable to come up with a reply. _

_ he then sees the bullet wound again. _

wait-

_ jisung gently poked seungmin's waist softly with his pinkie, to feel something elastic under his hoodie. since hoodies are thick in material, it was very subtle, but it's there. _

_ a holster. _

_ "hyung, you had a holster on you?" that explains the bullet wound, sadly. tae hyung must have felt it and used it against him. _

_ "thought they wouldn't feel it when they pinned me down, i guess not." seungmin sighed. _

_ "i'm sorry, i have to go." jisung hears his hyungs coming back, the echoing of their shoes are distant, but it's there. he has to go. _

_ "i'll make sure stray kids get to you, they'll be here tonight, trust me on it." seungmin barely managed to send him a nod before jisung closes the door and bolted down the other way, his bag hanging hazardously off his shoulder. _

-

jeongin was ready to stab a few thousand bitches if woojin wasn't holding his shoulder in a warning grip.

"we really need to go, i was... researching on panic attacks... before i came down." jisung said slowly, gauging jeongin's reaction. the fox-eyed boy turned his attention towards him. "well, basically if we don't get there quick things might get permanent." no one needed any clarifications whatsoever as they wordlessly got ready, getting up and moving about.

if they're too late, seungmin's mental condition will worsen.

the youngest of them all watched in awe as stray kids moved about the house at somewhat lightning speed without getting into anyone's way. felix and chan were heading upstairs to collect more firearms, blocking the whole stairwell. changbin was coming down from above, seemingly about to clash with the two aussies who were having quick conversations with one another. the shorter instead casually swung himself off the railings and dropped down, busy on his phone.

minho, who was looking through the shelves under the stairs caught him bridal-style before the smaller jumped off and continued his way. minho's eyes never left the compartment he was looking through. jisung was on his phone, letting the other end know that he's staying over at jeongin's until the next day. he walked towards the couch before throwing himself towards its general direction. woojin, who was passing by with two first aid kits in hand, kicked the foldable part of the couch open to catch the boy, who just kept talking as if his life wasn't in danger 2 seconds ago.

wow, jisung thought. gotta take down some notes.

"we're good." chan announced, snapping jisung from his daze.

"where's jeongin?" on cue, jeongin shouted a loud 'bye mom!' from upstairs, running towards the railings and doing a somersault off. hyunjin caught jeongin's hand and swung him down safely so the younger's feet lands, all while finishing his carton of milk that was occupying his other hand.

"yall can own a circus at this rate and i won't even question." jisung rolled his eyes at their stunts, before continuing.

"now, yuta hyung's a good getaway driver." a smirk ghosted his lips as he walked backwards out the front door, making sure stray kids' eyes were on him.

_ two can play the stunt game. _

"better catch up, strays." he smiled before turning and gaining speed as he ran down the steps towards the car as yuta stepped on the gas, the wheels screeching on the road. the maknae cartwheeled, doyoung opening the back door just in time for the younger to land in his embrace before slamming the door shut, the black ssc tuatara racing down the deserted road, blending into the twilight of night.

"two can play that game, dreamie." minho growled, up for the challenge as he jumped into his gray hennessey venom f5, jisung and hyunjin buckling in, the taller of the two barely able to close the door before minho zooms out of the garage, his roof barely missing the garage door that was just out of range.

"my god, i swear he's a street racer at times." chan grumbled, getting into his own glacier blue one, jeongin and woojin SAFELY buckled in. he waited for changbin's orange one to go first before following behind. minho's car quickly caught up with nct's, the two sports cars revving their engines at one another as they waited at a junction for the other two. they way towards nct's home in jeonju is a whopping 2-hour drive, but since it was already 11 in the dead of night by the time they left, the journey was a tad bit shorter with a little bit of racing on the highway and shouting out of opened car windows.

it was mostly filled with chan shouting at the rest of his kids to be careful and not run into any unlit lamp post (psst minho psst), jisung screaming his lungs out and whooping and sticking his body out of the sunroof to dab every time minho does some trick on the highway, hyunjin desperately doing damage control because he's too young to die. changbin was awfully quiet over the earpiece till woojin had to video call felix to make sure he wasn't the one driving while the older slept (the last time felix drove, he drove like a mad man, much more madder than minho and chan's definitely not having it, no)

in the end, they reached the outskirts of jeonju in less than an hour and a half, getting off a few blocks from nct's home as yuta drove theirs straight through the gates.

it's gonna be a hella long night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sksks im dying frm school plz save me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im bout to get killed arent i

it was 12.18am as chan revised the plan.

"first, i need the location of seungmin exactly, to the coordinates."

"from the front door, turn left and go up the stairs before going back down at the end," jisung states. "lesser people this way." yuta adds in.

"right, then feel the hidden door on the wall on your right before pulling it. do not push," doyoung continues. "pushing sets off an alarm. we've done it really frequently for it to be an accident, but don't." yuta grunted over the earpiece as he turned to watch the house before going in first.

"go in, seungmin's on the door all the way at the end of the hallway." jisung finishes, joining his hyungs inside the house.

"alright, brushing up on the plan," chan starts, getting everyone's fullest attention.

"nct goes first, checking to see if the coast is clear, being distractions if needed. minsung will enter through the nearest window they can open from the inside and secure," chan looks over at the two mentioned, making sure they understand their roles. "changlix, just stay out here. get into a car and keep us updated from the outside. if anything happens or if any of us gives the signal, you two will drive off without hesitation." chan turned to address the other two. worst-case scenario if their cars got spotted, at least both changbin and felix will be able to drive off with two cars.

"the rest of us will go in after minsung gives us the clear, to follow nct into the room. jeongin will go look for seungmin while the three of us keep guard. do not hesitate to knock out anyone." with a nod, everyone dispersed to do their things. jisung took a deep breath as they met jungwoo in the living room.

"where were you three?" he asked from the couch, chenle jumping on the older in distraction.

"we went to do some graffiti." doyoung answered smoothly, moving over to show him pictures of their work the two older did in coverage while jisung was still in school.

"wasn't this one already there since last afternoon?" jungwoo questioned, his hand carding through chenle's orange locks. doyoung laughed at his question.

"yeah, they were. we forgot to take pictures of them when we were done since we wanted to book all the empty walls we scouted out a few days ago. yuta then went back to take the picture while i continued the work. oh! speaking of which-" doyoung silently stayed to keep jungwoo company, chenle letting out a loud whine before he detached himself from the older to follow yuta and jisung.

"how did it go?" he asked the younger.

"might need dreamie hyungs to keep the others busy," jisung mumbled, not really seeing the majority of the family in the living room. it was too risky. chenle smirked, expecting that reply.

"don't worry, we're already on it."

"yah! lee jaemin!" kun shrieked from the kitchen.

"why, why? what did he do now?" taeyong grumbled from upstairs as he made his way towards the kitchen.

"hyung~ markie hyung's being fucking mean!" haechan screeched from the direction of their back porch, running up the stairs with mark hot on his tail, nearly knocking ten over, who was coming down with an arm full of laundry.

"watch it, kids!" he shouted, speedwalking towards the laundry room. just when mark was about to catch the younger, he jumped off the railings and landed back on the first floor.

"you bitch, who told you to mess with my half of the room!" the elder jumped down after him, the two hurricanes of trouble making a mess in the kitchen.

"babies, i need you to calm down!" taeil tried to do damage control, hurriedly picking up the cooked dishes from the table before they could get knocked over by the baby devils themselves.

jeno, jaemin, and renjun were having a playful banter in the huge living room, the trio throwing the small pillows on the couch at one another, throwing toilet paper rolls at one another. it was an utter mess as jungwoo stayed where he was on the couch, watching with an amused smile on his face.

"jen, ren, min." johnny called out in warning, trying to grab jaemin by his waist. the younger easily wiggled out due to his slim figure and kept his banter.

"thanks, hyung." jisung gave chenle a quick peck on his nose. the older giggled cutely before turning around to join in the ruckus.

"hey! don't think i didn't see you three sneak into my room just now!"

"what utter lies, zhong chenle!" renjun cried back, a wispy smile on his face. yuta quickly ran down the hallway, throwing open the window to help minsung into the building quietly while jisung pulled the secret door open. as soon as he did, xiaojun and hendery ran out, giggling and chasing one another up the stairs, making minsung freeze. jisung froze solid with his and outstretched and minho literally dropping off the window to sit on the ledge below.

everyone let out a sigh of relief when they didn't notice stray kids. jisung looked around for the doorstop to hold the door in place, turning back to see winwin raising an eyebrow at them.

"um, hi winwin hyung!" jisung laughed nervously, getting yuta's attention.

"winnie, don't say a word, please." yuta asked, eyes begging as he hauled minho in, who in turn, threw jeongin in, the youngest landing with grace on the windowsill. winwin half-smiled at his boyfriend in amusement before signing.

_ like i can say anything in the first place, yu. _

yuta sighed, pulling hyunjin in as well, who froze as he eyed winwin nervously.

"baby, i'm sorry-" winwin laughed soundlessly, his eyes forming beautiful crescents.

_ i'm kidding, love. they moved seungmin further into the room. jaehyun might still be there, i'll see if i can get him out for you- _

"no, winnie hyung, you don't have to, i'll do it," jisung said, already ushering the older towards the living room.

_ you're not even supposed to be allowed in, sungie. _

"i'll manage, now please go~" the youngest whined, in which his hyung rolled his eyes before leaving them be. woochan then joined them inside the mansion, swinging in and landing with a soft thud of their matching combat boots. quickly, they detached the ropes from their belt loops, letting the nylon fall out of sight.

"okay," chan panted, turning towards the rest. "minsung, your positions." the two gave a nod in return before moving, each of them taking a corner under the ceiling by the door. both brought along portable sticky hooks which they threw strategically in the corners before jumping up, pulling themselves closer to the hooks as they clasp the chains they had on their belt loops onto them, their bodies suspended in the corner in one black blob (it was one of jisung's crazy ideas and let me tell you, all of his crazy ideas worked)

"how's it?" minho asked, grunting as he kept his wrists against the wall to stop his body from moving so much, jisung following suit.

"need to wait for you two to stop swinging." after a few seconds, they look almost invisible with their full black outfit and their head tucked to their chests.

"looking great as always." woojin said.

"go ahead then, we'll keep an ear out." jisung replied, voice muffled but yet loud in their ears from the earpieces. jisung gave the pair one last look before starting to lead the way, yuta leaving their side.

"not following?" chan asked, the other stopping.

"winwin and i are usually inseparable. the dreamies causing a ruckus together and jisung not being there is already a little suspicious. if i'm not there, they might catch on much more sooner than you'd like."

"how about jaehyun then?" hyunjin asked, eyeing the secret room and its white walls.

"i'll deal with him." jisung states, face voided of his emotions as he entered first, the others exchanging one last look before trailing behind. the walk towards the last door was too slow for jeongin, their botts clicked against the marble tiles no mattered how soft they tried to step. jisung, heck, he didn't even bother, stepping without a care as they approached the dreaded door, even kicking an empty can towards the dustbin. everyone flinched at the metal making contact with the wall.

"baby, you shouldn't be here-" everyone whipped towards the door on their left, where jaehyun stood. instantly both sides took out their guns and pointed at their target. jeongin kept his concealed, narrowed eyes staying on jisung who looked nowhere near surprised, a little too calm to his liking.

was it a trap? jeongin didn't know, he can't tell, so he held out on showing he's armed. if jisung switches side last minute, he might have to shoot him.

"hyung." jisung breathed out, doe eyes watching the older who closed the door behind him, his gun still pointed at their general direction.

"ji, baby, why are these people here?" the older asked.

"to take back their own." their maknae swiftly replied, walking up to jaehyun with his hands in his pockets.

jeongin cocked his gun, pointing it at the back of jisung's head, making jaehyun protectively change his aim to him. jeongin can't tell what's going on and what's going to happen, it lowkey scares him.

will yuta be on their side anymore? doyoung? would he have told them ad intended on trapping them here?

"tae hyung won't be happy hearing about what you did." jaehyun gritted out, mad that their youngest betrayed them and sided their biggest and most dangerous enemy.

jisung smiled his oh so innocent and blinding smile.

"yeah, he'll be mad," that smile dropped instantly, a sly smirk appearing on his face. "unless he doesn't hear about it." with a swift jab to jaehyun's neck, he's knocked out, the younger catching his body and slowly putting him against the wall.

"woah." woojin gasped, impressed. jeongin kept his gun, eyes giving a fat hard glare, coming in contact with jisung's for that not so heart attack he got thinking the younger one switched sides.

"we'll stay here," jisung barely whispered as he cocked his head towards the door. "seungmin hyung's in there, but be quick, it wouldn't be long till one of my hyungs come looking for me." jeongin found himself speaking before even registering it.

"what's going to happen to you?"

jisung raised an eyebrow.

"you did betray your hyungs to help us, who aren't really on good terms." the younger shrugs.

"i guess i know what it feels like to have someone really close and precious to you to get kidnapped and coming back unstable. don't worry, they won't do much." jisung looks away, tears shining in the corner of his eyes under the moonlight's beam.

jeongin turned towards the door before him, gulping before his hands landed on the doorknob, barely gripping onto the slippery metal.

it was so, so cold.

the ice must have fucked with the door as jeongin jiggled it for quite a long while, too long for him before it pushed open. the fox kept the gap small, his lean figure squeezing through, straightaway he was hit with freezing cold wind. he shivered as he left the door slightly ajar, steeling himself before looking up.

and oh my god, holy shit, jeongin wished he was blind.

seungmin, his precious baby seungmin, he was so, so pale from the cold, his lips covered in a slight tinge of blue. small, crystal icicles were hanging from his hair, the chains that held his wrists up were frosted over in a layer of white.

god, how cold was this, how long was he in here?

weak puffs of air were the only signs of life jeongin could see and that's what got him moving, searching for whatever the fuck that was making this room cold. there was no remote, no machines, nothing in sight and reach to be doing this.

"minnie, baby." jeongin called out, kneeling on the ice-cold tiles as his large hands cupped the other's face, trying to warm it up to the best he could in this arctic weather.

seungmin moaned at the warmth he was receiving, weakly lifting his head as much as he could, wincing when the thin layer of ice started to crack on the back of his neck.

jeongin's poor weak heart felt like it was being punched, kicked, thrown, stabbed all over as he helplessly watched his boyfriend tried to squint, to see through frosted eyelashes, tongue darting out to lick at his lips.

"baby, love, what happened?" jeongin asked as he unwillingly let go, his hands digging through the pockets of his holster, shivering when his torso was exposed to the painful cold while he searched for something, anything to pick at the locks on his puppy's wrists.

"w-water..." seungmin tried to reply, he really did but his lips hurt so much, everything's so cold and numb and he's just so goddamn tired. the younger's fox eyes caught sight of seungmin's leg, where an ugly gunshot wound was, frosting over like everything else. he inwardly winced as he gave up, reaching over to snap the brittle metal.

"love, don't sleep on me, please." as soon as both hands were free, the older fell forward into jeongin, his numb hands weakly grabbing his boyfriend's shirt, his head trying to find warmth. now that seungmin's body was in contact with his, jeongin found that he was so goddamn cold, there were beads of frozen droplets on seungmin's earlobe as if water was just cascading down before they were blasted with icy cold air.

fuck those people who did this to him.

only when seungmin started to let go did jeongin panic.

"min, baby." when he didn't get a response, he shook the older's shoulder harshly.

"love, please. answer me." luckily jeongin kept his silence after, if not he wouldn't have picked up seungmin's soft and weak hum of acknowledgment.

"we're going home, okay? i just need you to stay awake for me, please." the younger begged, feeling his tear streaks freezing over, making his cheeks itchy.

"innie, we have to go. nct's outside, minsung's holding them up!" chan shouted. jeongin huffed in frustration, whispering a soft 'sorry' as he hauled the older up, a loud piercing cry of pain left the older's mouth when his joints moved with gravity.

"i'm sorry, i'm so sorry." jeongin kept repeating, kissing seungmin's cold forehead as he quickly carried him bridal style, turning around so fast his boots almost slipped on the ice.

"holy god." hyunjin gasped as their youngest exited the room.

"no talk, we need to go, right the fuck now." jeongin snapped back, running for the only door back out.

"minsung, ditch the fucking area!" hyunjin shouted into his earpiece.

"changlix, yall better start the fucking cars before we get there." jeongin breathed out, busting through the door to see minsung holding off nct.

no no no, this isn't good.

"hyungs!" jisung's voice boomed as nct widened their eyes at their youngest.

"jisung, baby, where were you?" their maknae ignored taeil's question, walking straight up to taeyong, fire burning bright and warm in his eyes as he challenged the leader's gaze.

"jisung-"

"no, you'll fucking let them past right now."

"sung!" jisung takes out his gun, pointing at taeyong's forehead.

"you can't just take out your anger on everyone, hyung. if one of us went through this doesn't mean they deserved it just because you're unhappy that they're happy with what they have." jisung shouts, brimming tears shining like stars in his eyes. taeyong kept his gaze, silent for a while, before speaking softly.

"will you really go against us for them?" this question caught their youngest off guard, it was not something he was expecting taeyong to ask. jisung's eyes widened before he stoned himself again.

"yes, because you're wrong." taeyong let out an exasperated sigh as he looked over to taeil, clearly asking for help silently. jisung was always following instructions, never questioning, even if he might have disliked or disapproved. he always went along with everything.

to have their baby, their precious sunshine, their youngest having their leader at gunpoint, pushing his stand, wanting something, taeyong doesn't know what to do, because he's right. in every way imaginable.

"get them out before he changes his mind." taeil mouthed as jeongin took the cue and bolted, hyunjin hot on his tail. the fox wordlessly and unwillingly passed seungmin over to hyunjin as he jumped into the driver's seat of chan's car.

"don't crash it!" it was the last thing jeongin's clouded panicking mind heard before he fucking speeds off, tire tracks the only thing that was evidence of their presence. everyone else quickly got into the other 2 cars, minho and changbin driving off a few minutes after. by the speed jeongin drove, leaving dust and debris along the way as the cars turned out, he'll definitely reach home first.

guns cocked and pointed at him as jisung lowered his, throwing it to the side. their youngest's eyes never leaving taeyong's face as his hyungs kept their aim on him. it wasn't their fault, he did betray them.

a betrayer, that's what he is. 

quietly, the dreamies exchanged looks with each other, nodding in unison, surrounding their maknae with their guns pointing at their hyungs.

"you're standing for him? after he broke the only rule we had among us?" jaehyun's sharp voice made jisung flinch.

"like you were in any right." it was chenle who spoke up, silencing everyone instantly.

"ji was right, i went through it, doesn't mean they should. it's not fair."

"lele-"

"not until you apologize, we're staying with sungie." chenle cut off jungwoo.

"boys, we can talk about this." johnny spoke, an underlying tone of 'you're in trouble, so don't try getting out of it'.

"there's no talk! he betrayed us without any discussion, he's not one of us anymore!" ten raised his voice, jeno having to shoot an empty barrel in warning. their maknae hated it when people raise their voices.

_ not one of us anymore- _

"i never was," jisung whispered, gritting his teeth as he looked down, tears falling softly.

"ten, what in the everloving fuck was that?" taeil shouted, clearly being the only thinking adult right now.

"until you apologize to stray kids, formally. i'm no longer your maknae." he snapped, cheeks shining with streaks of tears as he vaulted out the window, walking away from home.

"dreamies," taeyong started in warning.

"too late, hyung." haechan scowled, vaulting after their youngest. everyone followed suit, except for mark. he scrunched his nose in disapproval.

"don't put the blame on him, we all know who's the real one at fault." saying so, he glared at ten before walking towards the window. his hands landed on the sill as he paused.

"i'll make sure they're fine and stay out of trouble, let me know once you all sort this stupid shit out," he said before leaving.

taeyong let out a shaky long sigh. this is going to be a long night.


	4. a/n

im just so fucking sad that i might not be able to plot for the next chapter. i miss woojin so much. i hate myself for not liking his voice during their hellevator era all the way to district 9 like wtf was wrong with me i just wanna smack past self- i finally got to appreciate his vocals from my pace onwards but i felt like i was too late and i feel so bad for not liking his voice not not giving it the love i want to give now :') idc wut antis says but woojin will forever be part of skz, he might not be there physically, he'll be there spiritually. all my oncoming works will have woojin as part of skz and yall can fuck off if u think otherwise.

i was so excited to see skz at kamp on nov 10, i dont have tixs but i was so damn ready to camp over to be infront at the red carpet. finally when i can see skz in person and thank them, i lost one of them. too those who've seen skz in person, please keep those memories becuz some of us wasn't given the chance in this life to meet the vocal angel and mama bear that is kim woojin

i love u all, skz has been my haven with a few more of my ults, they've been there for me when no one else was able to. please pardon if my writing style changes just a little or it doesnt feel the same as it used to be due to this. please be strong, skz was always there for us, now we should always be there for them


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry im so dead- i've been having fun and de-stressing, trying to get better and 'move on but not really', i still tear up everytime woojin's mentioned in my stories but if i aint doing this no one else is gonna so here we are- i'm trying to shorten my writing so at least i can get this story done and over with before i die agn from emo-ing over everything that's happening
> 
> im sorry, i love yall <3 i just need time

jeongin watched with a bitter taste in his mouth as hyunjin did as much as he could to warm seungmin up, peeling off wet clothes and dressing him up in dry and comfy ones. he honestly couldn't help it. none of them were good at first-aid, hyunjin barely understanding the mechanics behind it. it had always been seungmin who was the one dealing with their battle wounds and pain, now he's the one needing help. the youngest left the oldest of the three to do this thing, residing in the kitchen as he poured himself a cup of milk to ease his tingling nerves.

he watches as seungmin stirs slightly, his body instinctively trashing when hyunjin tried to deal with his wound on his leg. jeongin pouts before turning and left for his room, not wanting his facade to break in front of them.

never in front of them.

the fox stayed in their shared room, pacing about, restless, trying to keep himself busy until the commotion in the living room beckoned him out.

he opened his mouth, ready to shout down the hallway to ask what's going on, to save him the trouble of walking over when he was cut off by seungmin's shriek. instantly, he jogged over.

"minnie, baby, calm down." chan tried, approaching the boy who sat up stiffly on the couch, eyes wide with saturated fear.

"n-no, don't come any closer." seungmin whined, but chan held his stand.

"pup, we just want to talk. can we talk-" chan's hand rested on seungmin's arm in an attempt to soothe him, but the younger screamed, pain and raw and it hurts. hurts to see him like this; glossy, brown orbs voided of everything but horror.

"okay, i'm sorry. i'm sorry." their leader apologizes quickly as he stepped back, the puppy bundling himself up in the blankets that were present.

"innie?" woojin asked their baby fox, who locked eye contact with seungmin.

"baby?" he asked, hands up, palms facing the older as he approached him, watching the other's eyes glaze over with something he can't decipher.

he thought that he was safe to advance, so he did, a hand reaching out before him in a silent question for permission.

oh, how wrong he was. as soon as the maknae moved his hands, seungmin wailed. it was cracking and choppy and raspy, freezing jeongin immediately.

"hyung-" jeongin called out when the older started standing up on his own, limping. despite that he still put his wounded leg down for stability, wincing when it hurts. jisung rushed over into seungmin's line of vision before trying to offer his help, both hands outstretched as he kept his distance. in a flash, the squirrel yelped as the younger virgo bit his wrist hard, making it bleed from his sharp canines.

jisung's lips quivered as he tried his best to mask the tears, to not make things worse, but the betrayal was written clearly, reflecting in his shaking eyes.

"don't come near me, all of you." seungmin wiped his tears harshly as they kept falling. every small movement the members did make seungmin whip around, lost and scared and frightened as he backed himself away from the rest of his family.

"seungie, please, you need to rest-" chan tried again, his eyes training behind seungmin's form, trying to convey his thoughts to the younger aussie who was in that direction. felix gave a curt nod.

too bad jeongin thought his boyfriend all too well. seungmin's sharp eyes caught the interaction even when his vision was blurry with tears as he took out his gun without hesitation, pointing it at chan with shaky hands.

"seungmin, put that down." minho raised his voice slightly from the other side of the room. the younger refused to abide, instead, he backtracked towards the corridor, even switching his aim to jeongin, his other half, when the fennec moved outside his vision.

jeongin taught him all too well, the group had no choice but to freeze, not wanting any casualties. seungmin's empty hand stayed, fingers gracing the wall, feeling his way toward their bedroom.

changbin seemed to decipher something the others didn't. as soon as seungmin's lean fingers grasp the doorknob, he ran, trying to tackle the younger boy away from the door. seungmin fired, his shaking making him miss, the shot landing in changbin's route as the older stumbled. it gave enough time for the puppy to slam the door close and lock it shut.

"shit," woojin cursed under his breath as changbin banged on the door.

"kim seungmin, you better open the fucking door! i know what you're doing and you better damn not!" the shorter shouted, desperately trying to bust the door down with his strength.

"not gonna think that's gonna work hyung, we did make sure our doors are reinforced," felix mumbled, but it was loud over the silence between changbin's bangs.

before seungmin shut the door, he did lock gazes with his younger boyfriend. as soon as he did, his brown puppy orbs started tearing up again before slamming the door. it was a quick encounter but jeongin caught one thing, the look of betrayal.

_ but why? _

"he looked betrayed," the youngest mumbled. "i don't understand." his voice broke off into a pathetic whine.

"none of us do," chan sighed loudly, his eyebags really prominent as the moonlight streamed in from a nearby window. "leave him be, we'll check on him somehow."

"what did they do to him?" jisung sniffled, cowering in minho's lap when jeongin looked at him. the older was nursing his boyfriend's wound to the best of his abilities. call them dumb but they really have no idea how to work first-aid. seungmin was the only one who does.

"it's not your fault, sungie." hyunjin mumbled, dropping a kiss on blue-haired's crown, giving a dead chuckle when minho tiredly glared at him.

"it feels like it is, if i didn't try to-" jeongin didn't hear the end of it as minho kissed the younger to shut him up.

"they manipulated him," felix's deep voice suddenly spoke up, from the side where he stood, eyes downcasted as he fumbled with his long sleeves. "just like what happened to me, they did it to him, much more worse."

changbin was instantly by his side, smothering his younger half in kisses and soothing words. hyunjin stayed where he was, wandering around the kitchen aimlessly, eyes fixated on the marble patterns on the kitchen island. jeongin could barely catch the drop of tear that slid down his cheek, running down his sharp jawline before splattering against the counter in a muted splash.

god, felix didn't deserve what he went through. except for changbin, no one knows exactly what happened. all they know was that it was trauma. it was hell, to say the least. manipulated like a doll, a toy, a perfect maid who never questions or disobeys.

_ if it was worse-  _ a shudder went down the fennec's spine.

_ no-  _ he believes in seungmin, that he'll get through this. it might not be now, but soon.

soon, he'll have to open the door. he will open the door.

but for now, they'll wait. seungmin waited for them when they needed to come clean about who they are and what they do. now it's their turn to wait for him.

-

days turn into weeks into nearly a month since that day and seungmin refuses to let anyone in.

"at least he's eating?" woojin tried to brighten up the mood as he knocked on seungmin's door. quickly, a pair of pale hands reached out for the plate before the doors shut again. jeongin kept his cool when minho spoke up.

"how would you know he's eating and not like, throwing it out the window?" everyone's in such a bad mood, the whole household is affected.

chan's barely sleeping, woojin's constantly keeping himself busy around the kitchen, minho became blunt and venomous, changbin rarely leaves his shared bedroom, hyunjin refuses to let anyone near him, always bundled up in blankets he never lets go, felix just stopped shining, his freckles looking like dead stars in the night sky. jisung just outwardly turned non-verbal.

as much as jeongin knows seungmin's going to break soon and open that fucking door, it seems like he needs to step in earlier than he thought.

"i got the key to the door." jeongin said calmly, taking out said key from his back pocket while the whole gang looked at him in shock.

"bitch, you what-"

"i have my reasons, trust me." jeongin cut off minho with a snarl, immediately turning out of his reach, putting the key into his holster for safekeeping.

"hear him out, kids." chan tiredly nodded his head, resting his chin on the table.

"i know minnie way better than all of you. when he has a problem, he wants to be the one who solves it, to be the one who reaches out for help, not us always helping him. he thinks that he's a burden if everyone keeps fussing about him, so i wanted him to come to us. guess it wasn't gonna happen." jeongin sighs, making his way towards the door.

"just make sure he's okay." woojin said before ultimately deciding everyone needs fresh air, fussing the younger ones to get ready to go for a walk.

it was a silent suggestion; we're leaving you two alone, it looks like you need it.

jeongin was always glad his hyung could understand.

quietly, he slotted the key in, opening the door, startling the small puppy who's buried in the mountain of blankets. as soon as the door opened, the heavy smell of vomit and... yeah, assaulted his nose as he scrunched it up, quickly turning the fan on.

it was so hot and stuffy, what even.

"baby." jeongin addressed the wide puppy eyes that stared back at him. it welled up with unshed tears when the fox refused to look away, not moving from his spot, leaning against the doorframe.

he waited, waited for a reply, waited for the green light, that he's allowed in. and seungmin knows, the younger can see the emotions swimming, filling up his glassy eyes as he debated, waiting to overflow.

when the sound of the front door clicked, seungmin's walls tumbled.

"i'm s-sorry-" he started, hiccuping when he gasped for air. the built-up emotions came flushing down with his tears as he sobbed, curling into himself even more on the bed. jeongin's heart shattered and ripped at every cry that left the other boy's mouth, his heart is probably just a pile of dust now.

the younger steeled himself to keep quiet, to not utter a word as he waited yet again for the older to look back up. when he didn't, jeongin sighed and move closer, his hip touching the bed, making it shake just a little.

the motion got seungmin to snap his head up. jeongin licked his lips in preparation before he started signing, slowly and making sure it's not hard to read.

with his hyungs, his gang members, he can sign as fast and as messy as he wants to. throughout the years, they've grown used to him signing out everything and anything. for seungmin, the puppy wanted to pick it up not so long ago just in case jeongin has his own episodes and refuses to speak.

the younger knows seungmin's trying to read. the older doesn't know this, but he always mouths out whatever that was signed to him. when his boyfriend got confused, jeongin paused before he signed again until he got it right.

the fox only did this when he was usually angry or stressed out, either at himself or someone else. except, it's not the case right now and he wants to make sure seungmin knows he isn't mad.

_ i'm not mad, i just want to know what's going on. _

seungmin dropped his eyes back down to the bedding, hands clutching onto the fabric, his body shaking from the sobs he's holding back. jeongin reaches out instinctively, only to pull back when he remembered what happened the last time someone tried to.

the older let out a pained whine when he did, which made him so much more confused as he froze with his hand awkwardly in the air and a knee on the bed, his eyes blinking in curiosity.

"i-" seungmin snapped his mouth shut, biting his lips as he thought. the younger kept his hands where it was, though they're somewhat aching in their position, as well as his knees.

damn, sleeping on the couch was a bad idea.

his angel quietly stretches out his shaky hands, palms up in meek request. jeongin felt his blood boil at the red marks on his wrist, caging the pale, soft hands, as well as the cuts that decorated his palms from gripping onto the chains in the sheer cold.

the fennec didn't really understand what seungmin wanted, so he did the same while watching the other's body expressions. as soon as his palms were in his sight, seungmin slouched his posture, his shoulders drooping, letting out a soft sigh.

he wasn't as tense as before. good, some progress.

jeongin then reached for seungmin's hands, grasping his ring finger, where luckily, their promise rings were still in place. then he waited, his other hand empty as in invitation. the older seems to be having an internal debate as his brows furrowed and he started playing with his ring, pushing it up and down on his finger. jeongin can't blame him, they must have told him a lot of things from their point of view about them, about jeongin especially.

who knows what they've said or shown. considering they're rivals, it must not have been pretty things.

the maknae snapped out of his thoughts when seungmin took ahold of his empty hand. he watches the older sigh and his hands shook lesser at the contact. taking it as a green light, jeongin intertwine their hands loosely, thumbs rubbing soothingly over the other boy's knuckles.

since his hands are now busy, jeongin had no choice but to speak as he settled down on the bed.

"i'm not mad, never mad at you but i'm just really sad, that you didn't want anything to do with us," seungmin flinched at his words and a new damn built in his eyes, his eyelashes sparkling from unshed tears. jeongin didn't apologize, even though his heart tore painfully as a drop dripped from the other's lashes.

"they probably have told and shown you many things and i promise that once you get better, we'll tell you anything you want to know, about us, about them. you heard their side, you should hear ours, right?" jeongin waited for seungmin's delayed reply, a small and meek nod of his head.

"i d-don't want to talk about anyt-thing right now." seungmin sniffled, avoiding all contact as he stared blankly at the floor. jeongin's fox eyes instantly followed, landing on seungmin's holster.

_ wait- how is it off? _

see, these holsters are made to fit snug on their waists and due to the nature of being one of the most notorious and hunted gangs, it's always on 24/7, even when they sleep. of course, there are detachable ones like the ones owned by nct, but where's the fun in that? jeongin did give his boyfriend a choice for him to choose since he's not really, and jeongin was never intending, for him to take part in raids and fights with them. it was too dangerous but yet, his angel was a saint and decided to suffer with the rest of them.

which means one thing; seungmin lost weight. mind you, he was already quite skinny to start with.

"you weren't hungry?" jeongin asked, hoping seungmin doesn't take it the hard way since the younger had no idea how to sugarcoat his words but still get his message across. seungmin just sighed as he took back his hands, placing them on his lap, moving to sit cross-legged. now that jeongin had a better look at him, he seems to be drowning in his own hoodie. that pastel green hoodie is most definitely seungmin's and even more definitely, was once his size.

"i really tried, every m-meal woojinnie hyung gave. it went in but it wouldn't s-stay in-" he looked up again, eyes red and puffy and jeongin is about to really die from the guilt that gnawing at him from his insides because once again, he made his angel cry. "you have to believe me, innie. please believe me-"

"i believe you, baby. it's not your fault like you've said, you're trying. that's all that matters." jeongin managed a weak smile. not buying it, seungmin lifts his shirt as evidence, tilting his head away in shame when the younger let out a gasp he didn't want to.

_ are those his ribs- oh my god, those are his ribs-  _ jeongin could feel the hot tears of frustration run down his cheeks. oh, he's so ready to punch something right now. the younger reached out to thumb softly at the fang-like burn marks under the older's third right rib, hearing a hiss as he jolted from the feathery touch, pulling his shirt back down.

this time, seungmin kept his tired gaze on jeongin as fox-like eyes raked down his body in observation. the puppy's cheeks weren't healthily chubby, his collarbones were so exposed and sharp while the shirt became all too big for the small frame it clothed. the taser marks never healed properly, leaving fang-like indents all over his body, a painful memory.

jeongin didn't realize how angry he was till seungmin reached out with some difficulty, weakly combing his hand through the fox's hair, calming him down from his blinding rage.

jeongin, in all honesty, just wanted to grab some tasers and taser the fuck out of the whole of nct, probably killing them in the process because what in the actual fuck-

"you're in your angry headspace again." seungmin softly said, bringing jeongin back once again.

"sorry, i just- it hurts, to see you like this. so, so much, i-" jeongin's voice cracked as he sniffled

"i know." was all the older replied before taking his hand away, keeping them close to his chest. the younger noted down the dark eye bags under the older's eyes as he wiped the tears with his sleeves.

"how about this? go take a shower, i'll change and we can cuddle?" the younger proposed, watching seungmin freeze up with fright.

"i-i can't stand-"

"do you want me to help you-"

"no!" seungmin shouted, startling the maknae as he draws his knees towards him, hugging himself and making himself smaller.

"you have to keep yourself healthy, hyungie." jeongin stressed as he stood up slowly.

"how about this? i'll start the bath for u, help u undress, take out the bandages on ur leg and wait outside? i won’t look, i’ll keep my eyes on ur face, alright?" he waited for seungmin’s decision as he took the blankets off the bed and yoinked it out the door and into the hallway. he did the same for the multiple blankets that were on the bed, softly and gently untangling seungmin from them before yeeting them out the door to join the pile.

"o-okay, promise u won’t look." seungmin answered as he stood up, holding the wall as he steadied himself.

"i’m gonna carry u." the younger announced softly, dusting his hands before extending them out like before with his palms up.

he has no idea what happened to seungmin to make him overly alert. everything has to be in his sight or he’ll panic. jeongin willed the guilt down as he watches seungmin stares at his open hands."

"it’s just a s-small walk-"

"i’m still carrying u, baby." jeongin watches for seungmin’s shoulder to drop before leaning down to pick him up, as slowly and as gently as he can. seungmin’s really fragile right now, both his state and his trust. jeongin can’t lose that or they’ll go back to square one with the older isolating himself again.

jeongin softly puts the older down in the tub, helping his angel with his shirt before letting seungmin deal with his shorts as promised. he kept himself busy by checking the temperature of the water before humming happily when it’s just right on the first try. he then turned the tap so it fills the tub, moving his eyes back onto seungmin’s without hesitation. he watched with a lazy lopsided smile when the older’s let out a small smile.

"i keep my promises, minnie hyung. always." jeongin winked, getting a bigger smile from his boyfriend.

"do u want me to go or?" the fox then asked, seeing if the elder changed his mind. instantly, seungmin nodded, his eyes still on jeongin.

"don’t say you’re sorry, this is not something that you need to apologize for, alright? just call me if you need anything, okay?" jeongin caught onto seungmin’s racing thoughts, so he cut in. the older bashfully looked away before nodding, letting jeongin go.

"i’ll always love you, angel." jeongin placed a kiss on seungmin’s hand, getting a meek ‘you too’ as an answer before closing the door to the bathroom

_ you too. _

that reply brings back old memories when seungmin was still adjusting from his old trauma. back when he kept blaming himself when he emotionally couldn’t say it back and kiss jeongin, who kept showering him with kisses and love unconditionally. jeongin smiled sadly as he picked up the dirty laundry, dumping it into the washing machine and starting it up.

"it was almost the same situation as this, jeongin needed seungmin’s permission to touch, to kiss, to hold. all those progress, gone in just one night. he was almost back to square one.

"how’s he?" chan’s voice scared the living soul out of jeongin as he yelped.

"you didn’t go with them?" jeongin asked once he caught his breath. chan laughed quietly.

"nah, i really didn’t want to leave u two alone."

"he’s not that okay, but i’m not going to say anything. remember back in the days, something like that." chan nodded in understanding.

back then, jeongin used to tell chan and woojin about seungmin’s progress, so that the two oldest can keep track

when seungmin found out, he felt so betrayed, jeongin swore never to do it again.

"i’ll do the laundry, go take care of him." chan urged, already bumping the younger away with his hips. jeongin went back to his room with a small smile on his face, closing the door behind him and turning on the aircon.

"innie?" seungmin called from the bathroom, getting jeongin’s attention while he was picking up clothes that were strewn on the floor.

"yeah?" he replied, wincing at the smell of vomit on seungmin’s clothes. nonetheless, he continued to pick all of the dirty laundries up, opening the bedroom door to throw them out into the corridor.

"c-can you… help?" the older asked hesitantly. jeongin hummed a reply as he closes the door, giving two quick knocks on the bathroom door before opening it, eyes instantly staying up, keeping his gaze on the older, who shyly hugs the towel that’s covering his body as he leaned against the wall for support.

it was no secret that the two showered together before and saw each other in their all naked greatness and were really chill about it, but this situation was so foreign, so different, jeongin doesn’t like it at all.

"i n-need help dressing." seungmin mumbled, pronunciation still slurred from his bruised lips.

"okay-" jeongin’s hands reached out to help, but the older shrunk even further into himself.

"p-promise you won’t look." he stuttered, shaking hands handing the younger his clothes. jeongin held out his pinky, seungmin eyeing warily before reaching over to hook his.

"a promise is a promise." jeongin said before dropping down suddenly, scaring the living hell out of seungmin as he yelped. the younger quietly and quickly dressed older, flinching when seungmin let out a pained whine when the shorts grazed his gun wound.

"see? all done!" the younger smiles, faltering when seungmin dazes off while staring at the tiles.

"minnie?" jeongin asks, getting the older’s attention once again.

"do you trust me?" seungmin visibly stiffened at the words, eyes darting around with fright, fingers tightening around the towel draped over his shoulders.

"n-no." the fox wasn’t gonna lie, that one word hurt, so much. to see their progress, the trust they built, all fall in a few days.

"that’s fine." jeongin tried to hide his sadness, but his voice got caught in his throat without him wanting to.

"i-i’m sorry-"

"stop saying sorry, you didn’t do anything wrong, hyung." the younger gulped, willing the tears to not fall.

_ not now. _

he reached out for seungmin’s hand, taking it when the older didn’t react.

"come, i need to deal with that-"

"i can do it m-myself." seungmin mumbled quietly. jeongin hums in agreement, bringing the other back into the bedroom. he watched as seungmin moved about on slowly, grabbing the first-aid kit from under the bed and plopping himself down, getting out his materials.

jeongin stood awkwardly by the bed, not so sure what to do as he watched his boyfriend gently dress his gun wound, the bullet long gone from hyunjin's relentless effort to get it out even when seungmin kept struggling against it

"sit, don’t stand there." seungmin said as he pulled on the cloth, tying a knot before bending his leg, making sure it’s not too tight to hurt. jeongin plops down quietly as the two stared out the window.

"did you really kill that girl?" seungmin asked suddenly, playing with his fingers.

"which one?" the younger one sighed back, stopping the older from peeling his skin off.

"said something about hyunjin." the puppy mumbled, playing with the younger’s fingers instead, messing with his many rings.

_ oh, that girl. _

"it was for hyunjin. if none of us did, hyunnie hyung wouldn’t be with us right now."

"what happened?"

"well, she’s hyunjin’s twin, who grew obsessed with hyung and his looks, threatened to take him down with her so no one else could have him."

"how about-" jeongin silenced the older with a chaste kiss on his cheek, pulling back to look at him. thankfully, seungmin didn’t flinch.

"i know i promised to answer everything, but we should get you some food."

"it w-wouldn’t stay in-"

"silly, the foods we’ve been giving were steak and chicken. you need something soft, like porridge so your tummy can take it."

"innie, you don’t cook." seungmin whines when jeongin left the side of the bed, making grabby hands at the younger, who smiles and picks him up with ease.

he really did get lighter.

"yeah, but chan hyung’s home, i could get him to-"

"no!" seungmin cries, legs hooking behind jeongin’s knees so suddenly the younger almost buckled. "no-"

"why not, what’s wrong?" jeongin cooed and whispered, pressing reassuring kisses as he calmed the older.

"they-" seungmin hiccups. "they m-messed with the food-" sadly, jeongin knew exactly who his boyfriend was referring to.

"how about this, i’ll make a smoothie. Do you want a smoothie?" jeongin asks as he supports seungmin’s thighs with one hand as he pushed the door with the other, walking towards the kitchen. as he entered the living room, he saw chan duck down to lay on the couch so seungmin wouldn’t see him. he mouthed at ‘thank you’ when he saw a piece of paper on the kitchen island.

_ strawberry and orange smoothie in the fridge, take your pick. _

"minnie, strawberry or orange?" jeongin asked, setting the boy down on the table.

"strawberry." the other mumbled, kicking his legs aimlessly. jeongin hummed in reply as he took out both bottles, making sure seungmin looked at him as he stole a sip from the strawberry one. jeongin’s eyes lit up as he squealed mutely, passing the rest of the drink to seungmin, who side-eyed him as he hesitantly sipped on it.

"how’s it?" the fox asked, taking huge gulps from his orange one as he leaned his weight against the counter, caging seungmin.

"good, thank you chan hyung." seungmin said, feeling much more better now that there’s somewhat food in his system.

jeongin froze up as he looked over to see chan's eyes wide in confusion.

"innie doesn't leave pulps in smoothies but hyung does." seungmin mumbles as he places the empty cup on the table, leaning his head against the younger's chest.

"i'm sorry, hyung. i didn't mean to shut you out."

chan took the chance to get up and walk over, taking the empty cup and washing it.

"baby, you know we won't hold it against you. sure, we were shocked and confused and sad but we understand where you're coming from." their leader turns towards them.

"i forgive you, pup. i'm sure everyone else will too once they're back. the road to healing is long, i'm not gonna say it's going to be easy. but we're here for you, all of us." chan smiles his dimpled smile and seungmin breaks down from happiness, sobbing as he reached for the oldest. jeongin backed away so chan could pick their puppy up, soothing him with whispers of praises and love.

jeongin's heart fills with love at the sight as he took out his phone to let everyone know they can come back, so that all of them can shower seungmin in unconditional love.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> quarantine is boring me pls send help

the road of healing was taking its time. it was slow, yes, but jeongin wouldn’t have it any other way seeing his millennial hyungs caging seungmin in a cuddle pile using their bodies.

“seungie, is this okay?” this sentence was always asked by everyone every time they wanted to do something, so seungmin was aware and he wouldn’t freak out. It was a silent scar that stayed throughout these months, haunting, that whatever happened was not a dream. but with this new buds blossom as it showed how much seungmin fought with his inner demons, day and night as the hidden voices tried to take him away when no one was looking. jeongin could feel the stinging tears in his eyes when seungmin laughed and nods faster than usual, without his heavy silence and empty stares.

he’s been through so much, jeongin can’t help that all this happened after moving in with him, after the puppy gave his heart to him.

“if he didn’t move in with you, it would’ve been worse, don’t you think?” chan sat down next to jeongin by the kitchen island, watching some of the hyung line complain about not being invited to the mound of pillows and blankets in the living room. the leader’s presence startled the younger who was zoning out.

“if he didn’t have you, who else could he have turned to?” jeongin wanted to reply, that there was jisung, hyunjin and even felix who he could’ve went to. who were older and (kind of) more mature than him when needs be.

“no, don’t say any of the 2000s. even if seungmin went to any of them, he’ll feel left out since jisung has minho and hyunlix have each other and changbin. you’re the best he got. someone who can give him his undivided attention, someone who he can baby but at the same time, get babied if needed,” chan turns to him with a smile on his face. “pup, you’re the only one for him.”

jeongin pursed his lips because he feels like a baby, he was this close to crying again.

“thanks, hyung. really. you’re always there when we need comfort.”

“of course, what else am i supposed to be here for. all of you are my everything.” chan chuckles lightly before leaving his seat, joining woojin who was watching over the rest, making sure no one overstepped their unsaid boundary with seungmin.

jeongin smiled after seeing how hyunjin moved away when seungmin fidgeted, making sure he didn’t touch him by accident. his boyfriend smirked at his hand of cards as he threw down a draw 4 card, cackling at jisung’s horrified face.

“uno! give me red and let me win!” seungmin smiled. jisung bit his lip, looking at his cards, debating.

“i’m sorry, my twin.” jisung breathes, before literally slamming his own draw 4 onto the card pile.

“oh, no no. you shouldn’t say sorry to me.” it was felix’s turn to smirk, wiggling his eyebrows, fingers taking out his own card. the squirrel gasps.

“oh no, min i’m so sorry-“ felix softly puts his draw 4, smiling sheepishly at minho, who stared at the three of them like they had offered him off to the devil.

“how could you do this to seungmin?” minho sighed deeply, posing as if he had his own draw 4.

“hyung-”

“i’m kidding, i don’t have one.” minho laughed as he took the 12 cards into his hand. “what color, lixie?”

“green.” the game went on with minho starting off a draw 2 chain after a few rounds.

“bet yall only have one of that.” the oldest scowled. jisung pulled a face after putting down his draw 2 in defense. felix put down one too with his smug face.

spoiler alert, jisung did not win uno and seungmin did. the cause of his predictable death was his other half’s draw 2 chain, ending with jisung having to pick up 12 cards.

“game!” seungmin yelped as the other groaned, before continuing to see the true loser who will have the penalty of cleaning the dishes for dinner, courtesy of woojin. jeongin chuckled, watching seungmin try to extract himself from the older ones who clung on, of course, their grip barely ghosting.

“having fun, angel?” jeongin asked as his boyfriend sat across him at the island.

“yeah.” he answered simply. “how am i doing?”

“lovely.” seungmin wanted jeongin to keep notes on how he’s doing and to be truthful about it when the boy asked. there was a small bickering about it since the maknae didn’t want to stress the older boy out while the puppy insisted, threatening his cuddle privileges.

who can deny this ball of literal sunshine, not jeongin apparently.

“can i have cuddles?” seungmin asked, swiveling around in the spinny high chairs they were on.

“are you sure? you never asked before when we’re with the rest?” jeongin asked to make sure. seungmin nods fevertly, already throwing himself into his boyfriend’s waiting arms. it ended up being jeongin rocking slowly in his high stool as seungmin clings on, ankles locked behind the younger.

"i missed this." jeongin whispered softly, arms tightening around the other as he spun the chair so that seungmin's back rested on its edge.

"i know, i'm sorry." the older mumbled, burying his face into the younger's shoulders, craving the scent he missed so much.

"nothing to be sorry about, love. you needed time to adapt again, i understand." jeongin nudged seungmin's cheek till the puppy brought his head back up.

"i love you, i'm willing to wait for you." the maknae seals his promise with a kiss to his nose, making the elder scrunch it up and whine.

jeongin shushes him, smiling as seungmin clung on when he stood up and moved towards the living room. as he walked closer towards the noise of his other members, seungmin's grip became tighter.

"we don't have to join them if you don't want to, babe." the fox reminded as he leaned against the archway towards their living room, waiting for seungmin's answer.

“i want to, i miss them too.” seungmin pouts, making grabby hands at chan when the older turned to look at them.

oh, how the good times don’t last.

-

“has anyone seen jeongin today?” chan asked as he peeked out from his room.

“no, why?” hyunjin replied, his lean body trapping jisung against the couch as the other scrolled through his phone.

“he said he’s going to come home later than usual.” seungmin supplied from the kitchen, checking his messages again to confirm.

“yep, said he’ll be later than usual but didn’t tell me why.” chan hums before grabbing a cup of tea from the kitchen, giving woojin a big hug before heading back to his room.

“okay, once he’s back let me know. i’ll be in my room.”

“don’t work your ass off again, babe.” woojin joked before joining the other hyungs in the living room.

“seungie, come join us!” minho invited as the group in the living room sat in a circle.

his phone and worries forgotten for now, seungmin smiled and nodded, getting up from his seat at the kitchen island and plopping down next to hyunjin, who snuggled into his side straight away.

if seungmin wasn’t dating jeongin, hyunjin would’ve been his next pick. the boy was pretty, tall and really dramatic. but it’s endearing. when jeongin isn’t home and seungmin started to feel just a little lonely, he’ll seek out hyunjin for comfort.

the older even stole some of the younger’s hoodie back when he used to sleepover at jeongin's so much. During times like those was when hyunjin will dig out one of jeongin’s stolen hoodie for seungmin, since he had the ones seungmin never saw before.

“how are things with felix and changbin?” seungmin asked quietly, not sure if the others knew about the budding emotions the taller harbored for the sun and the moon, really. felix was always so bright and smiley like the sun while changbin was quiet and shy like the moon.

“i swear everyone knows except for those two.” hyunjin joked, playing with Seungmin’s fingers.

“do you think i’ll fit well with them? they’re the school’s adored couple before you and innie announced you’re together.”

“why, of course, to them, you mean something too. i’ve seen the look they give you at times. Soon, you three will have to talk.” hyunjin hums but doesn’t raise his eyes on where he had kept them, gazing at the floor.

“hyunnie, if felix’s the sun then changbin’s the moon, right?” a nod.

“then you’re the stars to fill up the sky for them.”

“shut up, i’m going to cry.” the taller whines, slapping seungmin’s thighs as he got up at the sound of the front door unlocking.

“innie!” felix’s deep voice boomed as he shouted.

“he’s not home yet, lixie.” jisung shouted back as his eyes stayed on his phone, ruffling minho’s hair with his other hand as the older had his head in his lap.

felix visibly whitened at that.

“why, lix? what’s wrong?” changbin handed a blood-red letter over to seungmin, who took it with caution.

“this was outside the door, stuck right on the door handle.” seungmin flipped it to see it’s directed to jeongin.

“it’s for jeongin.” the puppy said as he looked at his boyfriend’s full name in all caps, weirdly having a space between all the letters.

“seungie, look closer.” so, he did. he brought the letter closer to him, now seeing some sort of decoration on the envelope? no, wait. as seungmin squinted, he could read small, fine letters between jeongin’s name, spelling out seungmin, with a broken heart between the letters I and N of jeongin’s name. what was the assumed decorative line under Jeongin’s name now became readable.

‘dear seungminnie, open the letter.’

so he did, with hyunjin already by his side in silent support. there’s a few pieces of polaroid-looking pictures. carefully, seungmin took one of them out, looked at its content before dropping everything in his hold. the envelope flew to the floor with the remaining pictures cascading down almost in slow motion with how slow they fell.

when seungmin stayed frozen with hyunjin looking around for help, chan stepped in, swooping to pick up some of the pictures for answers. the picture he picked up was of jeongin with a busted lip, glaring at the camera with glossy eyes.

“seungie?” hyunjin probed as the younger stared blankly at a picture that landed before him.

“i-i need time a-alone.” he barely whispered out before the tears fell as he retreated into his shared bedroom. minho got up from the couch and picked up the polaroid in question. a butterfly knife posed next to a rather deep and ugly cut on jeongin’s lips, terrifying making him a real-life representation of a joker.

“who the fuck sent this?” was woojin’s growl as his eyes narrowed, thinking of anyone they might have offended, anyone seungmin or jeongin might have offended.

“jisung,” chan called, passing the collected pictures and the letter to the squirrel boy. “look into it, find any clues you can.” jisung glared at the pictures in chan’s hands, snatching them and picking up the envelope on his way to his shared room.

“they better fucking watch out, no one fucking hurts my virgo triplet and gets away with it.” he snarled, holding his door open for minho to slip in before closing.

“changbin and felix-“ chan addressed as he turned, to see the two boys already putting their shoes back on.

“be back by 2, don’t worry.” changbin muttered, holding the door open for felix as the two slipped out into the dark night, searching for any possible clues to the sender.

chan sighed loudly, rubbing his face as he fell back onto the couch.

“he’ll be fine, channie.” woojin walked up behind him, wrapping his arms around the leader’s neck, resting his chin on his crown softly.

“jeongin’s strong, he’ll be fine.”


	7. a/n

haha i wished i didn't have to make this-

yes, hello. it's been a while and i want to apologize first of all.

it's quite unfortunate to say this but, i've been falling further and further out of the fandom as time went on. i wasn't getting hyped when they dropped stuff, i wasn't hyping the members up when they post etc.

i honestly don't when i just, couldn't connect with them anymore. even when i sat down, willing to continue this story, i can't. nothing's coming out, my thoughts never stayed on stray kids long enough for me to get something out.

i didn't want to say this, thinking that maybe it's just a phase, maybe its cause i just can't think at the moment. that wasn't the case.

i was able to pump updates after updates consistently for a victon twitter au so i don't understand why i wasn't able to do the same here. i wished i held on longer to finish this, so that i won't feel guilty for leaving u guys on the edge.

this' not the first time it happened, it was the same with bts. the longer i followed, the further i fell away from them (partially the toxicity in the fandom as well) stray kids is becoming more popular as the days go by, and that's where the fandom toxicity started showing.

that's where i started drifting, not only from stray kids but also some others. i think this is the universe trying to tell me, that i've done all that i could for stray kids. i was with them since debut, when the fan count was not much. and i guess it's time i take my leave, to help some other smaller fandoms become stable, i guess, is the best way to put this.

i'm leaving this work as it is, hopefully in the future i'll be able to finish this. i have the plot, the plans, but the words are not coming.

there's so, so many awesome stay writers out there, i'm sorry that i was not one of them.

if this is the first work of mine you've seen, please check out my profile, i have i guess, 8 other skz content? but please do not hope for another skz content, i don't think i'll be doing any.

if you still wish to keep in contact, here's my twitter @rouyu_

i'm not leaving ao3, if that was what you inferred. i just won't be appearing under the skz work tag anymore, at least in a while.

i ult other groups (verivery, victon, oneus, txt, dkb, onewe, day6, ace, vav) so i'll probably start writing about them.

i'll still support skz, but i won't be so into it

i hope my past skz works will suffice with my absence

**Author's Note:**

> hmu :
> 
> insta : rouyu.u  
twt : rouyu_


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